A Great Nightmare
by CasualBobWriter
Summary: He always dreamed of sleeping peacefully. Instead, he woke up in a random field of grass getting beat up by dogs. A great man with a great start, must now get used to the life style of Gamindustri. Meeting the many people in this world, a certain CPU Candidate ends up falling for him. (Rated T for teen stuff like swearing haha and fluffy stuffs)
1. Dastardly Damp Dogs

**Chapter 1: Dastardly Damp Dogs**

* * *

 _Have you ever been jolted awake by the sensation of falling, just as you were drifting off to sleep? Have you ever been unpleasantly awoken by the sharp deep pain of a leg cramp?Normally when you feel these things, you wake up in the middle of the night. When your sleep gets interrupted in the night, you wake up in the middle of the night._

 _Makes sense right?_

 _My problems right now are: I woke up in the middle of the day and I'm in a grassy field in the middle of wherever the hell I am._

* * *

"Ugh, where am I? Is this a dream?" Was the first obvious thought I had. After absentmindedly looking around, I got up and dusted off the dirt and grass off my pants.

"Might as well take a look around," I said in my head. Okay let's see what this place has: lots of flat grass, lots of bright sunlight, and lots of giant rain drop looking things.

"What in the he-AH!" I suddenly fell right to the ground, where I felt something bounce up and down on my back. When I angrily looked back at the culprit, it was one of those mysterious rain drop creatures. I noticed that it had a dog face and it had some sort of raccoon tail in the back of it.

What the crap? What are these things? Raccoon dog water monsters? Not to mention that these guys are slimy, the one that knocked me down getting my back damp. I violently got back up knocking the water dog (that's what I'm calling them) off my back.

"Who are you?" I asked the creature in a menacing tone. The only response I got was a tongue sticking out at me. A few seconds later the water dog quickly leapt towards me aiming for my face.

"Oh shit!" I yelled in surprise. My reflexes made me punch the dog square in it's nose knocking it in a different direction. When it hit the ground, the creature seemed to have disappeared into an array of random data stuff that I can't really describe.

Looking back, I've realized that I've made a mistake.

"AHHHHHHHH!" I shouted as I ran frantically across the grass fields. I was being hunted down by a horde of water doggies.

"This is a dream! This has to be a messed up dream!" I shouted desperately to myself so I can wake up from this weird nightmare.

 _But out of nowhere everything went black, the last thing I saw being some people in the distance._

* * *

Oh man, it was a dream after all. The room, the bed, the general morning vibes I get from the lighting here, back to a sane place I call home.

"Oh good, you're finally up," commented an unfamiliar voice.

"Wait what?" I asked. I didn't recognize that voice. When I looked to see who was there, I happened to see a not-so-tall girl dressed in some odd clothing.

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Compa, nurse in training!" said the girl with enthusiasm.

"Wait, a nurse? What happened to me?"

"Me and Neptune found you unconscious in the field with all those dogoos bouncing around. I can't believe those dogoos really knocked you out!" She giggled at the thought.

"Compa! Did you bring the dead guy back to life yet?" called out another voice I didn't recognize. It was past the closed door in the room.

"For the last time he's not dead! And besides he's waken up already!" responded Compa.

Out of the blue, the door slammed open revealing another short girl that happened to have purple hair.

"Neptune why did you kick open the door?!" asked Compa in a shocked manner.

"So I can make a dramatic entrance. All protagonists have to have a killer first impression right? Oh hey there's that new guy!" the girl said excitedly as she went by Compa to get a closer look.

"Hai, name's Neptune! I happen to be the CPU of Planeptune! What's your name?" The girl inquired with a friendly smile.

"Oh my name's just Michael," I said with an awkward smirk.

"Michael eh? I'm calling you Mikey," she said with a grin.

"A nickname already? Seriously?" I asked with surprise.

"Never mind that Mikey, we gotta get you spruced up and get you used to the life around here!" Neptune was practically dragging me out of the bed.

"I'm pretty sure Historie would not like the idea of you slacking off with our guest here," Compa commented.

"Oh I'm sure she won't mind! She's going to understand that I need to help our friend here! Come on, let's get going!" As if dragging me out of bed wasn't enough, the energetic girl was easily dragging me out the door.

"Uhh, what are you going to do?" I asked her worriedly as I tried to catch up with her pace.

She turned her head to me with a small smile on her face.

"I'm going to show you what fun looks like!"

 _Uh oh._

* * *

 ** _Author's notes: My first chapter which happened to not be so long! I just write these for fun, so say if you want more! Bye :0_**


	2. Pretty Perky Pudding

**Chapter 2: Pretty Perky Pudding**

* * *

 _At first when I came here, I thought it happened to be a terribly weird dream I was having. Girls, water dogs, and unconsciousness was the crap I've gone through so far. You might say that it's an odd combination for a dream, and you'd be right because you know what? This isn't a dream. It was a nightmare. A pleasant one to be honest._

* * *

"So uh...Neptune, what are we going to do here?" I asked her worriedly.

"Did you forget already silly? I was going to show you what fun would look like!" she replied with a flash in her eyes.

"Oh ok!" I said while nervously scratching my hair.

"Soooooo...Mikey, since we're here to enjoy ourselves you have to tell me what you do for fun!"

"I like playing video games I guess..." I said hesitantly.

"Wait really?!" She replied immediately with a lot of excitement.

"Yes?" I was sort of scared of how she would react.

"Me too! You've got to tell me what you love to eat!" Don't know how, but she got more excited.

"I guess I can go for some sweet treats like pudding or cake."

"Mikey, I think I know what we're gonna do afterwards. Eat lots of food and then video games all night! I wanna see what skills you got!" She had this grin all of a sudden.

"But I'm hungry, so let's get some food," I said impatiently.

* * *

"Compa I just heard about the guy you found, is he here?" IF asked the idle nurse.

"Not really, Neptune took him into the central city," Compa replied while looking at the vacant bed.

"W-Wait, you let Neptune take that guy away?" She asked with disbelief.

"Well they did leave pretty quickly. Why were you looking for him anyway?" Compa asked curiously.

"Historie wanted to meet him so she can get an idea of where he's from. I'm just going to call Neptune so she could bring the boy to the Basilicom. Let's get there while we're at it." IF took out her phone.

* * *

You know, for a futuristic city, the food they got here has an uncanny resemblance to the food at home. So glad they have junk food and video games here. Maybe I can survive.

"Neptune, don't you think you're going overkill with all these snacks here?" I asked her while I was trying my hardest to hold onto the giant box of pudding. When I found where Neptune was, I saw she was just on the phone with somebody.

"Bad news Mikey...we have to go to the Basilicom. Apparently Historie wanted to see you or something. Come on! We gotta get this pudding over there stat!" she said in a dramatic tone.

I groaned in annoyance. It was going to be a pain carrying this over there. As Neptune paid the cashier, we were now on our way towards Historie I guess.

"So who in the world is this Historie person? Sounds like history to me."

"Oh don't worry about that! You'll meet her when we get there! We gotta focus on what's important here." She was eyeing the box I was sluggishly carrying. Once I realized what she was talking about, I immediately held the box away from her. That look on her face told me that she wanted to eat this badly.

"Ooooooh no! I haven't ate in like forever, so all of this is pretty much mine." I said to her with a grin.

"Awww~, but I'm hungry too! You can't just hog all of those treats to yourself! Don't make me pry 'em away from you!" she commanded with a malevolent smile.

"Hmph, we'll see about that."

* * *

"Where on Earth are those two? It's already been 10 minutes since we got here," IF commented.

"Maybe they encountered some trouble?" Compa suggested.

"In the city? I don't think that happens very often." IF said while looking into the distance.

"Oy! Guys we're finally here! Sorry for the long wait!" Neptune announced as she ran ahead of me. I noticed myself getting a little sweaty and my arms were getting sore. At least there was not much more distance to go.

After reaching what appears to be a church type of building, I finally drop the box of (incredibly heavy) pudding and sat down on the stairs for a breather.

"Whew...I'm not doing that crap anymore. Too much exercise for me already," I muttered to myself.

"So you're Mikey huh? Name's IF, nice to meet you I guess." asked another voice I didn't recognize. When I looked up, I saw a brown haired girl standing over me wearing some oversized coat.

"How do you know my name was Mikey?" I asked as I scratched my head.

"Neptune told it to me. Now come on, we gotta get you inside so you can meet the Historie," she said.

Soon, the whole gang was inside and we were all traveling the interior of the massive building until we got to our destination. Gotta say, this place is huge. I wonder what all the space is for. Oh did I mention? I had to carry the box all the where we are now. So tired...

"Okay we're her-"

"Neptune it's about time you got here!" said an upset voice. Much to my surprise it came from a fairy inside a floating book. Weird. Really weird.

"Hey hey hey! I got Mikey here in one piece though! That should get me some points right?"

"Well...I can't fault you for that. But still, I expect you to not slack off tomorrow, got it?" The book fairy seems to not take well to people who shirk their responsibility.

"Yup yup!"

"Ok now where were we? Oh yes, let me introduce myself. My name's Historie, Oracle of Planeptune. I assume your name would be Mikey?"

"Uhh yeah sure, let's go with that." Well my new name might as well be Mikey.

"Our friend here is from another dimension, do you have any information on that?" asked IF.

"Well first he needs to tell me what happened before we can address the cause of him being here."

"Well, I was just sleeping at night and then I just happen to wake up in this world." An incredibly simple explanation by yours truly.

"Well that's strange," Historie flipped through her pages, "I never knew you can teleport while being asleep. And to add to that, we didn't see anything peculiar when we found you."

"So basically, you don't know?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, not exactly, since this topic is new, it would take time for me to get the info on how and why you got transported here. So for now, I don't know."

"Well, that's cool I guess. What's this giant place even for?"

"This place is where people worship the goddess of Planeptune and it also serves as a housing space for said goddess. I assume that you already met her."

 _Wait, Neptune's a goddess? I wish I could be surprised. She did say she was some "CPU" after all._

"Well I must get going now, I have a lots of info to gather about your mysterious teleportation." The floating book fairy than floated off down the corridor that we went through. I soon turned to see Neptune just looking around with a bored expression.

"The day is getting dark fast so I was wondering where I can get some sleep?"

"Well, since you're already here in the Basilicom, you could just stay at my place! Wait, I realized, you can have a sleepover!" Neptune replied excitedly.

"Well that settles that," IF commented.

"Yeah, we should be going home. We'll see you guys tomorrow!" Compa waved off as she and IF went to the elevator down the corridor.

"Wait what Neptune? Where am I going to even sleep in this area?"

"Oh you can sleep in my pad! I think my sister is in there right now! You should meet her!" With surprisingly little effort, she managed to drag me across the room to a closed door. Maybe it's because I was still tired.

"Nep-Jr. it's me NepNep! We got some snacks!" Neptune knocked on the door. In a few moments, the door opened revealing a tallish girl that has a striking resemblance to Neptune. Must be her sister.

"Oh hey Neptune! Who's this person next to you?" asked the girl.

"Oh it's my new friend Mikey! Mikey, this is my sister Nepgear!" she introduced.

"Uhh, hi, nice to meet you." I nervously scratched my hair.

"Nice to meet you too! Any friend of Neptune is a friend of mine! Is he going to be sleeping here or something?"

Neptune put up a thoughtful expression.

"I don't think I'm going to let him sleep." She giggled.

 _What?_

* * *

 ** _Author Notes: I updated and stuff. Enjoy :)_**


	3. Scarce Simple Sleep

**Chapter 3: Scarce Simple Sleep**

* * *

 _Is she seriously going to make me pull an all-nighter? She doesn't know how much I value my sleep! What time is it? 9:37pm? Maybe I can stay up a little late. A few hours of sleep never hurt anyone right?_

* * *

"Woah woah woah! What do you mean by not letting me sleep? You know that's inevitable right?" I furrowed my brow at her.

"Man, you sure forget a lot! Video games all night!" she said as she held up some familiar looking controllers.

"Neptune, don't you think you should also get to sleep first? Don't you want to wake up energized and refreshed?" suggested Nepgear.

"We don't need sleep in order to be energized! We have pudding and most importantly we have Nep-Bull!" Neptune opened a nearby mini-fridge revealing some packs of canned drinks. I'd assume that this Nep-Bull is some crazy ass energy drink designed to keep me up all night. Sounds like something I wouldn't drink. Unfortunately, I just realized I was extremely thirsty.

"Uhh, Neptune do you know where I can get some water? My throat's killing me." I feel my throat getting slightly hoarse.

"Oh you're thirsty? I can get you some water!" Nepgear walked out the door, leaving me with a volatile girl. When I looked back at her, I already noticed that two empty cans of Nep-Bull were already on the ground. A great start to the night.

"Neptune! Don't tell me..." I said in horror.

"What are you worried about. You're seeing me, and I'm just fine as a pickle! Come on, I wanna play a video game or something," she said impatiently.

"I'm back with water and some pudding for you guys!" announced Nepgear as she walked in with a tray.

"Oh thanks Nep Jr!" Neptune took the pudding and immediately started eating it. She also happened to open another can of Nep-Bull near the cups of water. Without looking I grabbed the drink and drank the hell out of it, making it empty. Satisfying.

"Woah, this water tastes weird..." I chuckled awkwardly.

"Uhh, Mikey, I don't think you're drinking water!" Nepgear giggled at the thought.

When I looked at what I was holding I realized I wasn't holding a freaking cup, I was holding an empty can. Guess who's not sleeping tonight?

"So, since you can't fall asleep, why don't you just come and play? It's a spooky four player horror game with all those ghostly figures you love to hate~!" she said in a coaxing tone.

"Well...if I'm not even getting ANY sleep tonight...then hand me a controller. Just don't scare me or anything, okay?" I said while looking at the TV.

"You have my word!"

"Uh, horror games? You're going to play them while I'm going to be sleeping? Oh no no! I'm going to be terrified hearing all those sounds in my sleep!" Nepgear stated with a nervous expression.

"Aww~, I can't just leave you scared at night! Wait, I know! Why don't you stay up with us? We are going to be awake, and we can protect you from those scary monsters at night!" Neptune opened another can in anticipation.

"I suppose...I've always wanted to stay up late to see what it feels like. But how can I possibly stay up so late?"

"Nep Nep up with Nep-bull!" Neptune handed Nepgear a can of that energy drink.

"Now let's get rolling!"

* * *

It started well, but then as the hours passed by, our state went downhill extremely fast. I never felt so restless and tired at the same time. It's freaking four in the morning, oh geez. Is that six hours or what of gaming? That drink is hella strong.

"Neptune, what c-chapter were we on again?" I asked in a groggy tone.

"I-I think...wait, uhh, oh yeah. Chapter 7 right? We were going through the asylum. That was annoying," commented Neptune, showing signs of exhaustion.

"Neptune...Mikey, where are you guys? I can't find you in the prison and I'm hearing something!" said a suddenly alert Nepgear.

When I looked around for a second, I immediately saw Neptune sleeping with her face in the couch. She must've ran out of energy. Can't blame her, I'm about to run out of ALL of my energy too. A quick five minute power nap shouldn't hurt.

* * *

 **"WAKE UP YOU SLEEPING LOGS!"**

"OW!" I yelled in pain. Somebody freaking hit me in the head. "I'm up! I'm up!"

Why am I on the couch? Why is there a still asleep Neptune lying on the ground with a mess of cans around her?

Oh no, an angry Historie along with IF and Compa are here. I'm sooooo screwed when they see me like this.

"W-What? Did anything happen? Was there a natural disaster?" asked a just woken up Neptune.

"No, this isn't a natural disaster. It's just a disaster," commented Historie.

"Yeah...we came here so we can get Mikey into some guild work. Until we can find a way to get him back home, we should at least put him to do some work," IF said after rolling her eyes at the sight.

 _"Yeah that's right, now get dressed and get cleaned. We're planning you guys to head out for today."_

* * *

 ** _Author Notes: Short chapter to just get those games and drinks in :0_**


	4. Deceivingly Dangerous Dogoos

**Chapter 4: Deceivingly Dangerous Deeds**

* * *

 _"That title up there probably means Mikey's probably going to be beat up by those dogoos again! And you even put up 'dangerous'' trying to tell me they actually hurt or something. Oh well...what are we going to do now?"_

 _"Neptune are you supposed to be here?"_

* * *

Those girls were serious, we were going to work. Barely anytime to clean up, dress up, eat up, and other important actions that have the word 'up'. They practically rushed us so much I had a waffle stuck in my mouth when we went outside to do our supposed work. What do you do in a futuristic world filled with girls? Kill water dogs? But I was not the one to overthink the logic in how things work, I'd rather just do it.

We were just walking down a street of the central city of Planeptune, I didn't know what we were doing.

"Oh geez, why did we go so fast?" complained Neptune as she lazily leaned on her sister.

"Because we need to get Mikey a weapon so he can quest," explained IF.

"A weapon? Is this is for work?" I asked as I started to sweat a little.

"Well, if you're going to be questing and killing monsters, it would make sense to get you a weapon. Hey, there's the weapon store." She pointed out a regular looking store. I managed to see some swords through the window. The gang soon entered the store.

"Welcome! What can we get you guys?" greeted the owner.

"Oh we're just looking around," said IF.

Oh MY. I never knew that video weapons can come to life. Swords of all the shapes, guns of all the death, and other lethal weapons designed to look badass. Well, I probably can't use half these weapons but there are still options. One thing that caught my eye was a pistol that had a combination of gold and black colors.

"Anything caught your eye?" asked IF.

"Yeah, this pistol here seemed cool I guess," I said as I held it in my hand.

"I guess we found your weapon. I thought this was going to take longer," she remarked.

And in just seconds, we paid for the weapon and all of us were out of the store. I didn't exactly have a holster so I resorted to putting the gun inside my pockets along with the ammo. At least it wasn't that heavy.

"So, Mikey, you're a person that likes range?" asked a curious Nepgear.

"Of course he likes range! I heard he got knocked out by a dogoo!" Neptune soon giggled after that.

"Hey catch up, we need to get to the guild area for a quest," spoke IF as she signalled us to catch up.

* * *

The Guild, hmmm...

Another building which happened to be full of people talking, trading, and getting rewards apparently. People seemed to be giving way to IF, maybe she has a reputation around here.

"Uhm, what quest are we going to do?" asked Compa.

"Let's do a quest here in Virtua Forest, it would be a good start for Mikey," suggested IF.

"What do you mean a good start?" I raised my eyebrow.

"This quest only says that they needed to get rid of the dogoos in the forest. We can easily manage that!" commented Neptune.

"Wait, those things that knocked me out?" I asked in a bit of anger.

"Yup! Pretty much! Don't even worry! We won't break a sweat, right Nep Jr?"

Nepgear nodded. "Yeah! Let's get going!"

* * *

 _Virtua Forest..._

For such a weird-ish name it looked just like a forest. Them trees and plants I guess just being everywhere potentially hiding those accursed dogoos. Fortunately for me, the overall path of the forest was devoid of any dogoos, so that's good I guess.

"That's weird..." remarked IF as she looked around. "Where are they?" she asked.

"Maybe they're in that clearing up ahead," pointed out Compa as we walked into a big flat area swarming with dogoos. All those dogoos, pointlessly bouncy around with that smile on each of their faces.

"Finally! I was getting bored!" Neptune excitedly took out some katana out of thin air. Soon I realized everyone was taking out their deadly weapons. Might as well take mine out.

"HIYA!" I dramatically shouted as I took out my weapon. Wait what? Is this a stick or something? What about my other pocket?

"HIYA!" I shouted again while pulling out another stick.

"Uhh, Mikey, I think you should look behind you..." Compa awkwardly pointed out. When I turned my whole body around, I saw a dogoo spitting it's tongue at me. You know what it had inside it's body? My gun. At least I've had experience beating up one dogoo, so this one was easily defeated by the might of two sticks.

"Finally," I said as I cocked my slimy gun. I can't believe that a dogoo just did the switcheroo with me! When I turned to look at the rest of the dogoos, I realized that they weren't there anymore.

"Alright! That was quick!" said a grinning IF. "Good work guys!"

"Wait this fast?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yup, that's how it usually goes, these enemies are just free xp!"

"Oh I see..." I sighed in shame. I have a lot of work to do if I'm ever going to go questing. I'm just not the type to fight. Scratch that, I'm just not the type to work.

"Ok gang! Back at my crib for chills and thrills! Enough work for today!" declared Neptune as she ran ahead.

IF sighed."Well, you gotta start somewhere I guess."

* * *

"Oh finally! Back where I belong! Come on Mikey let's resume that game we were playing!" Neptune turned on the game console and handed me the controller in an instant. To be honest, I would much rather be doing this. After some waiting our game loaded just where we left off.

"Ahh yes the prison. I found the key that I could get us out of here!" I was navigating my character diligently through the haunted prison. I gotta say the controls are very very nice.

"OH GEEZ! AHH!" Neptune suddenly screamed.

"What is it?!" I asked in a panicked manner.

"There's a scary man chasing me!" In the darkness of the hallways I could make out Neptune's character heading towards me. Right behind her was a deranged maniac armed with two chainsaws with a bag over his head.

"Wait don't lead it towards me!" Suddenly the game paused, displaying a menu screen on the TV.

"Hold up Mikey I got a message." Neptune pulled out a phone from the couch. As expected from this world, it looks extremely similar to the phones back home.

"Hey Mikey smile!" I heard a snap like from a camera.

"Wait what?"

"Oh nothing! Just showing my friend Noire some proof of your existence!" She was happily texting away on her phone.

"See look!" She showed me the messages.

* * *

 _Noire: heard you were slacking off even more_

 _Neptune: whered u hear that?_

 _Noire: i just figured_

 _Neptune: oh yeah!? i just got a new friend_

 _Noire: what?_

 _Neptune: 1 more friend for neptune 0 more friends for noire_

 _Noire: where i dont see any evidence and besides i have friends!_

 _Neptune: (image)_

 _Neptune: score 1 for me!_

 _Noire: ugh he seems annoying like u lol_

 _Neptune: hey u havent even met him :(_

 _Noire: fine i will so i can prove myself like i always do!_

* * *

"Wow, she seems nice," I remarked sarcastically.


	5. Vicious Viral Videos

**Chapter 5: Vicious Viral Videos**

* * *

 _01001001 00100000 01100111 01101111 01110100 00100000 01101000 01100001 01100011 01101011 01100101 01100100 00101110 00100000 01001000 01100101 01101100 01110000 00101110_

* * *

It was a fine day in Lastation, where everything was just the way it should be. In the bedroom home to the CPU named Noire, she was still on her phone reacting to what her friend Neptune just sent her. It was a link.

Not just any link however, a NepTube link.

When the curious goddess clicked on it, she was greeted by a video aptly titled,

" **LASTATION GODDESS EXPOSED PART 1"**

For such a title to refer to herself, it wasn't a pleasant surprise in the very least. And that was just the title. The actual video itself, was just a 20 second clip of her dancing in some cosplay outfit. If you could call that dancing.

"WHAT!?" she screamed in horror as she looked at the total view count.

 _1,323,580 views._

Much to her dismay, everytime she refreshed, the view total simply increased in number as time went on.

"W-Who could've gotten footage of that?!" she shouted loudly in anger. It was incredibly embarassing for her to have other people know about her other hobbies. Maybe she could get some answers, as _all_ videos usually have some coherent writing in the description.

When she looked at it, the description read:  
 _this is just part 1 of the goddess exposed series. we start with noire because she is obvs most embarassing of them all! subscribe for more released footage! love, annie_  
A horrible realization has hit her, there was going to be another one. Another video containing another sliver of an embarrasing moment could be seconds away.

"I have to stop this! Th-these types of things shouldn't belong here!" she declared in an effort to console herself.

"Sis, what's wrong? I heard screaming!" questioned her sister who Noire was proud of, Uni.

"Oh-Oh it was nothing! It was just something I do to relieve stress! Yeah that's right!" Noire said in an attempt to avoid anymore questioning.

"Oh ok! Just don't push yourself too hard!" Soon, Uni went out of the room, just as quickly as she went in.

With that taken care of, she only had one more thing to do.

* * *

"I have to see Neptune about this."

The time was at noon, and all we did so far was just hangout after that forest quest. I'm not complaining.

"Ohhh, so that's what she looks like," I said as I viewed the short video.

"Yeaaah, she's a total tsundere bummer loner! Don't let her get you down!" advised Neptune.

Suddenly the door opened revealing Nepgear with another person. Oh yeah! The same one in the video I just saw. Bad timing because we had the volume all the way up. The girl must've heard it, because she had that "furious fury" feeling coming off of her.

"Oh-Oh Noire! We totally weren't watching embarassing videos of you or anything!" Neptune quickly said as she frantically tried to hide her phone.

"Don't worry Neptune I'm not angry at you, I'm just angry at the person who uploaded that video," she said as she sat down with an upset expression. I thought it was a good time for me to leave, but Neptune pulled me from standing up.

"You're a part of this now too..." she whispered into my ear.

The black haired girl soon noticed me and my poker face I was holding up. I was terrible in a serious situation.

"And you! Neptune told me about you, and I gotta say, it must be impressive to deal with her shenanigans all day. My name's Noire, goddess of Lastation. Don't let that video sway your view on me," she said with a formal tone. Kind of hard to take her seriously after seeing that.

"Uhh, I'm Michael, person of somewhere else. I didn't know you were such an avid dancer!" I nervously laughed as I scratched my hair.

"Well a goddess needs to get her privacy okay? That video wasn't even supposed to be up there in the first place! I bet you have embarassing moments so don't even!" she said in a defensive meanish tone. She's some tsundere alright.

"Well? Do you even know the creepy peepy that even put it up online?" Neptune asked with a unsure expression.

"Ah ha!" said a suddenly chipper Noire. "NepTube usually shows the coordinates of the computer that uploaded the video! Come on! Let's get going and shut that operation down!"

"Somebody's enthusiastic..." I commented.

"Hey, I'm just a person that gets things done," she said confidently.

"W-Wait wait wait! I just found out that the location is just in the nearby abondoned building area! That's like, sort of off the side of the central city!" Neptune mentioned while on her phone.

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's get a move on!"

* * *

We were walking through an abondoned building that happened to contain stairs but not an elevator. I hate this place already. Everything looked crappy to be honest. It was dark, hecka musty, most doors in the hallways were locked for some reason. I don't even know how it managed to stay intact.

"Watch out, there's noises behind this door," Noire said quietly. She peered through the peephole of the door.

"I think this is it."

"Nepu! Let's get going!" Neptune shouted as she violently kicked the door open.

Opening the door revealed a smallish dark room containing three computer monitors, a biggish figure seating in a seat, and lots of noise coming from those computers. The figure seemed to be surprised, jumping out of its seat with it's weirdly blocky arms raised.

"Who are you?!" interrogated Noire as she inched closer to the person.

"I'm fabulous~! That's who!" said a very flamboyant voice. Soon, the figure snapped it's fingers turning on all the lights in the room, making it clear to see who the culprit was. A pink robot man.

It was a weird sight for me: jello-ish pink color on most of it's body with glowing green parts on it's shoulders, arms, legs, back, and feet. His overall figure would've been imtimidating, if not for the colors or the voice...

"Anonydeath, what are you even doing here!?" Noire seemed to have met this odd bot before.

"Ooooh I was just revisiting the old place where I used to live! I should've known some good parts were hidden here! Especially ones about you~!" he said in jolly tone.

"W-What do you mean!? I know you were the one that uploaded that video Anonydeath!" accused Noire.

"My my my! Guilty as charged! I've been a bad boy! Naughty naughty Annie! Is it sooo bad if the world knows about your beauty in dance?"

Noire blushed for a moment. "O-Of course it's bad! You better take this down right now before I make you!" she said in a furious tone.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: to be continued follow for more x)**_


	6. Party Posse

**Chapter 6: Party Posse**

* * *

 _A very suggestive robot isn't the only problem I was facing. Actually, it was the only problem at the moment. I just needed to get creative, even if I risk getting beat up by a certain black haired somebody._

* * *

"Trying to use force I see! That's the Noire I fell in love with! That anger, that sass!" commented Anonydeath. He seemed to have pulled out a phone from his back. He was showing us what was on a screen.

A big digital circular button labeled:

" **VIRAL FUN TIME :D** "

From the looks of it, I've figured that Noire wouldn't like it at all.

"Uhh, what's that? I wanna push it," said Neptune as she gave a bored expression.

"This is fabulous thing here, is a button. Not just any button no no! The button that can end Noire's social life!" The robot was getting all giddy from this.

"As if she had one in the fi-"

"Shut up Neptune!" shouted Noire. She was getting heated.

"Lay a finger on me Noire, and my 'personal' collection of you goes up online! It's just going to be a marvelous display of everything you do when no one's looking! I know you value your 'self-image' highly so you better not touch my beautiful body!" the robot stated as he started to move in joy.

"Are you kidding me?! You have that much in your collection?!" shouted Noire as she stared down Anonydeath's phone.

The fantabulous robot only waggled its finger.

"Nah ah ah! That's for the world to see."

What a very "dire" predicament, a weird robot who stalks Noire, is threatening to expose her to the whole world if she tries to make him delete the video. I might as well do something. It's getting really awkward just looking at Anonydeath and Noire bicker all day. Neptune seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Hey Neptune, I got an idea. Give me that beat up phone and go with my lead." I said, pointing out the phone on the dusty ground.

"Okie dokie! Here you go! What are you going to do?" Neptune asked as she handed me the phone.

"Something that would piss off Noire even more."

If I can't win by force, then I'll just win by words. Very, very tantalizing words. Words that any pervy robot would fall for.

"Hey you! Robot," I called out holding up the phone.

"Hmmm...? Who do we have here?" the robot asked curiously.

"What I have here, is another thing to add to your, uhm, collection," I stuttered as I said those words. I didn't want to say it.

"Are you sure? You know I am a famous photographer! No man has gotten better pictures than me!" He said pointing to himself in dramatic ways.

"Well, I-I, this phone contains, uhm, super exclusive pics of Noire, uhm, in the shower..." I started to mumble when I realized what I was about to say. There was an eerie pause in the room the moment I said that.

" **WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?** " screamed out Noire obliterating the short lived silence.

"WHAAAAA!? Really!? Are you not just pulling my leg?!" asked a suddenly perked up Anonydeath who happened to be blushing. Do perverted robots blush? Hopefully not.

"Yeah that's right! Photo credits go to me! 10000 credits per photo!" Neptune chimed in.

"WHAT?! NO! NEPTUNE!"

"WHAT!? YES! I NEED TO KNOW THE DETAILS!"

"Just imagine Noire, _unobstructed..._ "

* * *

"Well I would've said that this went pretty well," I commented as we head back to the Basilicom.

"Yup, everything went smooth as ice cream! Speaking of which, I'm hungry!" mentioned Neptune as she was skipping towards the doors. Who would've thought that robots can faint from simple things? An easy victory, achieved by only by the loss of dignity. I also got slapped after we left the abondoned building. Served me right.

"Hmph! I should've known you two were just perverts!" scoffed Noire as we proceeded to the living room. She was going to stay here for tonight in the guest room.

"Well, we did save your reputation in the end. We just fueled that guy's imagination. Now come on! Start the game up Neptune!" I announced as I grabbed a controller.

"Okie dokie! I think we're almost done with this part!" she stated as she turned on the console.

"Oh no you don't! We're not going through that disaster again! It's getting late already! Get to bed!" interrupted Historie as she seemed to be angrily hovering by. She probably didn't want a repeat of yesterday.

"Well you better hurry up! I don't want you jokesters keeping me up all night!" Noire commented as she went to the bathroom in order to get ready for bed.

 _I guess I'll be seeing dreamland then._

* * *

 ** _Author Notes: shorty today dont know how :/_**


	7. Delicious Dreams

**Chapter 7: Delicious Dreams**

* * *

 _I get weird dreams. That's all I get nowadays. For such weird dreams, the range of things that can happen is far too big. Well, at least anything is possible._

* * *

It was early in the night. The angry book fairy shut down our game session leaving us to do nothing but sleep. It only took mere moments for us to get ready for bed.

"Oh geez!" I said as I yawned loudly. "Can I just sleep on the couch again?" I asked, eyeing the couch.

"We can't have you do that! You'll catch a cold if you sleep like that!" advised Nepgear.

"Well...where am I going to sleep then?" I yawned again.

"Well...we only have three beds here and they're all taken...I know! Just sleep with us!" suggested a Neptune that showed no sign of exhaustion.

I shook my head quickly. "W-What!?"

"You can just sleep with us silly! Isn't that how sleepovers work?" Neptune curiously asked as she was eyeing the bedroom. She still seemed to be not tired. I looked at the nearby digital clock.

 _10:49pm_

That's a bit early for me. I usually sleep at like twelve or something.

"You shouldn't sleep in the same bed as Neptune. She always fights things in her sleep!" Nepgear warned as she giggled afterwards.

"Well...it's not really a fight if the monsters keep losing! Well none the less, time is tick tocking away! Let's get to bed!" Neptune jumped straight to her bed and wrapped herself in the blankets. I guess I don't feel like getting beat up while I'm asleep, so a person like me would go for the other bed. Noire is probably out of the question after what had happened before. While I was thinking that, I found that both of the girls were already in their beds, one of them already asleep.

"How-How long are you just going to stand there? You'll catch a cold. H-Hurry up and get into the bed," Nepgear said.

"Uh...are you sure about that?" I asked nervously.

"Mikey, the last thing I want you to get is a cold, so come on!" Nepgear was trying to make a frowny face, but somehow it just made her adorable. After a couple seconds of standing in the cold, I finally just swallowed my doubt and just got into the bed.

 _First feeling I felt was instant warmth..._

From the blankets that is.

I don't know about the bed technology they have here, but the comfortability of these blankets though. Hella cozy and comfortable, perfect for a winter. It was a good start, until I realized that there's another person in the same bed.

"W-With the two of us here, the bed feels so small..." commented Nepgear as she giggled afterwards.

"Don't worry about it! As long as I am cozy, I'll fall asleep just fine!" I confidently said as I adjusted my pillow.

"Oh that's nice to hear. I kind of feel safer here." She snuggled inside her blankets.

"What makes you say that?"

"W-Well since last night, I was scared that the monsters from the horror game last night might come and haunt my dreams! Seeing you and Neptune go through that stuff without any fears or scares...makes me think that you can protect me when that happens to me!" she said with a small smile.

"Well it's nice hearing that. Well then, good night."

"Good night Mikey."

* * *

 _I felt a breeze as I noticed that I had sand in my mouth. As I violently spit the contents out of mouth and opened my eyes, I realized I was on a weird beach. Any normal/regular beach would have water, some palm trees, and other weird tropical stuff you find. What I didn't expect to find on the beach was a floating sandwich, perched on a fragile looking pedestal._

 _My stomach started to growl wildly._

 _"Oh no," I muttered to myself. I felt extremely famished, like I haven't ate in like a week or something. It looks like that sandwich was conveniently placed there._

 _Walking over to the pedestal, I realized that the floating sandwich had everything I loved eating. Fried chicken? Cheese? Is that a freaking chip bag in there? Well, I'm not going hungry anymore._

 _"Your time has come to an end," said an ominous voice. It came from seemingly nowhere. At least I thought it did until a dogoo appeared. It had a red headband, so that's a new thing._

 _"You must be eradicated from this land!" shouted the dogoo as it put on a raged expression._

 _"Woah woah woah! What are you talking about?! Be reasonable here!" I tried to calm the angry dogoo down._

 _"Your vile words do not affect me. Put up your fists wrongdoer, and prepare to face my wrath! AHHHHHHH!" cried the dogoo as it charged towards me at incredible speed._

 _"OH CR-"_

* * *

"AHH!" I yelled out as I woke up suddenly.

"What what!?" asked a startled Nepgear as she woke up.

"O-Oh it was just a dream," I commented as I looked around the still dark room. Looking from the clock it happened to be 3am already.

"Are you having trouble sleeping Mikey?" Nepgear asked as she lazily opened her eyes.

"No no, it's nothing, don't worry about it. You can go back to sleep."

 _And I need to go get water._

* * *

In the dead of night, a large crash was heard nearby awakening Nepgear once again. As she quietly moved through the dark rooms, she found a nearby light. It was the kitchen, and soon she found herself going over there.

"What the..." she muttered to herself as she stood over a water puddle on the floor. Besides the water, all that was left was the pistol that Mikey had.

Where did he go?

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Where he go? Idk :)**_


	8. Merely Missing Michael

**Chapter 8: Merely Missing Michael**

* * *

 _"OMG OMG I'M BEING KIDNAPPED RIGHT NOW! HELP! HELP! NEPTUNE YOU HANG OUT AROUND HERE FREAKING HELP ME!"_

 _"Can't, my physical body is sleeping right now. Fate decided to get you taken away, and it's probably up to us to save you or something!"_

 _"WAIT IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAVE ME WHY CAN'T YOU DO THAT NOW!?"_

 _"How am I supposed to know? You think I like read the plot or something? Pfft! I'm not that type of person Mikey!"_

* * *

Nepgear still confused about what had occurred here, heard a noise coming out from the outside. When she looked through the window, to her horror she could see Mikey blindfolded, being dragged along by an unknown figure. His mouth was moving a lot, probably  
the source of the recent screaming and shouting.

"No no no! Mikey!" she called out but it was ultimately futile. Within a couple of seconds, Mikey was out of sight, leaving a now panicked Nepgear that needed a plan.

Her first instinct was to quickly wake up Neptune. With some creative tapping and some slight shaking, the lazy goddess was up on no time.

"Ahh..." Neptune yawned. "W-Wha-What did you wake me up for?" she tiredly said as she rubbed her eyes. Neptune started to notice a distressing look in Nepgear's eyes, making her instantly spring up into action.

"What happened Nepgear? Did anything terrible happen to you while I was sleeping?" she asked in a less exhausted voice.

"N-No! It's Mikey! He's gone! He got kidnapped by a stranger!" Nepgear said with a stutter as she hugged her sister for comfort.

"Wait wait, he's gone?! But how did you even know this?" Neptune asked with disbelief.

"I saw h-him, blindfolded being dragged off outside! W-What are we going to do?" Nepgear asked.

"We kick the bad guy's butt and get our Mikey back that's what!"

* * *

I was blindfolded and was being dragged off at a really fast pace. I hated the fact that I couldn't see shit, and I was pretty sure I was going to die. I don't wanna die.

Every minute for me was a gamble. I didn't know where we were going, and no matter how much I screamed or shouted, no one would hear it.

"What do you want from me?!" I asked as I struggled to escape.

 _All I got was no reply._

"Who are you?!" I asked in a louder volume.

No reply still. But instead of sounds of more dragging, I heard a door open. In a few short moments, I could feel myself being forcefully sat down on a chair.

"Say goodnight!" A voice yelled out. I don't know why but that voice sounded strangely familiar. Out of nowhere I felt a sharp prick on my arm.

"Hey! What was...tha...t...foo...rrrr...?"

* * *

Neptune and Nepgear were both outside, trying to find a trail that can lead to Mikey. Since it was dark out, it was difficult for them to see any small details clearly.

"Ugh, did you find anything that can get us a lead?" Neptune annoyingly asked while kicking some dirt.

"No, not really. Where could they've gone?" Nepgear asked with a worried expression.

"Wait wait wait! What's that on the ground near the forest!" Neptune said as she pointed at the ground. "These are footprints, and look there's a long line to go along these prints. Come on we got our lead let's hurry!" Neptune rushed as she ran ahead  
towards the forest.

"H-Hey! Don't run off without me!" Nepgear called out as she ran after.

* * *

"Wake up~! Wake up you damn dingus!" That same familiar voice kept calling out to me. As I slowly opened my eyes, I could see just a small room that looked like it was some chamber used for baaaad things.

"Good you're finally awake!"

When I looked to the source of the voice, I absolutely couldn't believe it when I saw who it was. It was an all too familiar with that all too familiar smile I've seen too many times before.

"Br-Br-Bro-th-"

"Can it loser, don't need to remind me about who I am to you, geez, you're so annoying," the person rolled it's eyes in contempt.

"Le-Leon, how did you get here?" I asked while still trying to process this information. "And on top of that, WHY DID YOU KIDNAP ME?!"

"Well if you're dying to know how I got here, the truth is, I don't really know! Simple answer right? For the second one...I don't really need to tell you why I had to do this," Leon stated as he looked off to the side.

 _I gave him an unsure expression._

"Every time you see me doing something 'bad' or 'illegal' or anything that was 'morally questionable' you always freaking snitch on me like the little rat you are. Bottom line, you always tried to stop my schemes. So as a solution, I'll just make sure  
you stay here so you can't do anything!" Leon announced before taking out a shotgun from a nearby cabinet.

He pointed it straight at me as if he's expecting me to do something.

"Just imagine in this world where anything I do has no consequences. I can kill anything I want here! I can get all the destructive weapons and become the destructive man I always desired to be! And for you? _I'm keeping you alive as a reminder of how weak I was back then._ It's  
good to look back at history you know," he said as he hit my chest with the butt of the gun. I spat out in pain.

"That's for snitching on me when I had fun before," he said before going out and locking the door behind him.

I realized I wasn't tied anymore, so I got up to finally stretch my sore arms out.

"Hrnngh!" I yelped as I suddenly fell down holding my chest tight. My stomach doesn't feel good at all!

As I desperately tried to find something to ease the pain, I heard quick sets of footsteps approaching the metal door.

"O-Oh no no," I said as I backed up from the door.

 **BAM**

The door was slammed open violently with a broken lock falling on the floor. Too my surprise it was the pink haired sisters, weapons in hand.

"Where's the bad guy?!" Neptune shouted as she sliced the cabinet to pieces.

"Look there's Mikey!" Nepgear happily pointed out while putting away her weapon.

"It's y-you guys! AH!" I yelped in surprise when Nepgear gave me a sudden tight hug.

"Mikey! We found you!"

"Welp, the baddie must've make like a tree and leaves!" remarked Neptune. Suddenly I noticed a figure standing by the doorway.

 _"Well well well, looks like someone tried to break into my room, might as well, ahem, clean up the trash."_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Dang that man is a wild, scary sociopath. Who knew?**_


	9. Merely Missing Michael - Part 2

**Chapter 9: Merely Missing Michael - Part 2**

* * *

 _The end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the end..._

* * *

"What the?! Who are you?!" Neptune said realizing the person standing behind her was probably the culprit.

"What in the hell are you guys doing here? I have some business you know, and you're ruining it," he said menacingly as he cocked his shotgun.

"What are you doing kidnapping Mikey huh? You've have no right to be just doing things like that whenever you want!" Neptune scolded with a serious expression.

"Tsk tsk, that's where you're wrong," he said as he ruffled his trench coat. "You're dabbling in affairs that doesn't concern you."

"It concerns me when it's my friend!" Neptune shouted while getting into her attack stance.

"Oh little girl can fight eh? Life lesson idiot, gun beats sword," he said coldly.

With that statement said, Neptune lunged at the criminal with quick speed, trying to get a hit on him. Unfortunately for every time the sword got close to him, he just backed up just enough to dodge the attacks.

As I sat there looking at the frantic scene, Nepgear was itching to join the fight to help her sister. Taking out her saber sword, she joined Neptune in the seemingly endless struggle of trying to take him down.

"Too slow losers," he commented as he quickly pulled the trigger.

 **BAM**

An ear shattering blast came from the shotgun. Every pellet that came out seemingly exploded as they made contact with the goddesses. They were violently pushed back against the walls, making distinct cracks in them. In my eyes, it must've hurt even for people who were considered as goddesses.

Leon, standing there with a sense of accomplishment in his eyes, grinned. "What a joke, that was way too easy," he remarked tauntingly.

As the two sisters laid on the ground, I noticed that the man was standing over me.

"Pfft, pathetic." He took out a small knife and flipped it around in his hands. "I was going to keep you alive, but now, I'm going to enjoy breaking you." With a sinister grin, he plunged the knife right into my body, leaving only the handle to be sticking out.

For every inch of the blade that went in, the pain that gathered up inside grew into a mountain of agony in mere milliseconds. "ARRRGHHHHHHHAHHHH!" I yelled at the top at my lungs soon after that.

* * *

"NO! MIKEY!" Nepgear cried out as the yelling caught her attention. Neptune now realizing what had happened to Mikey, immediately transformed in a pillar of light, revealing a more powerful form of Neptune, Purple Heart. In a flash, the sadistic man and the goddess were now brawling again. Unfortunately for him, he was running out of energy to fight off the more potent attacks leaving an opening for the goddess to strike.

 **SLASH**

Leon flew off to the side, hitting his back on the cabinet. Despite the hit, he seemed to be unfazed. "Transforming huh? That's something new," he remarked as he picked up his dropped weapon. "I assume your friend here can also transform?" He started to chuckle a little bit as Purple Heart stood there with a confused expression.

"What's so funny?" she asked in a threatening tone.

"Oh nothing nothing. I just didn't realize you two can even do that sort of thing. I'm also full of surprises too," he said with a wide grin. Soon, smoke bursted from where Leon was standing, shrouding the room in a hazy fog. A couple seconds later, the fog was gone, revealing a note in Leon's place.

With the primary source of danger being nowhere to be seen, the sisters now had to deal with a far more serious problem. Purple Heart, ran over to Mikey, only to find that he passed out from blood loss.

"Wh-Wh do we do now?!" Nepgear asked, tears forming in her eyes as she kept seeing more blood pool around Mikey's body.

"We take him to the hospital as quickly as we can."

Carefully she picked up Mikey in a princess styled fashion, tears forming up in her eyes as she looked at the unconscious body.

"Nep Jr. I'll see you there at the hospital, let the others know what happened," she said before she started to fly through the air.

Nepgear now left with tears and worries, notices a note left on the ground.

 _"I said I'd_ _ **break**_ _, not_ _ **kill**_ _," the note read._

* * *

"Is he going to be ok doctor?" Neptune asked.

"In short maybe, but I fear that he may still be unconscious for some following days," he replied.

"Well, can we at least visit him?" Nepgear asked.

The doctor nodded. "He can, just keep in mind not to disturb him. Even after waking up, he still might have to be here for weeks in order for him to be back in working condition."

"Is there any chance we can visit him right now?" IF asked.

"I suppose so, just make sure you don't disturb him."

As the group nodded, they entered the room where Mikey was in. With the whole hospital theme of white and more white, it seemed to be peaceful enough. In the bed laid Mikey, where currently he was in life support sporting on bandages on several areas of his body.

Nepgear walked up to the bed and proceeded to touch his hand. "He's going to be alive right?" she asked.

"With the right treatment and the right time, he's going to be alright," remarked Compa.

On the table near Mikey's bed, Neptune had placed a console, which she had quickly hooked up to the TV in the room. "He's going to need to do something when he's awake," Neptune said. She looked at her younger sister who seemed to be the most worried. "Are you gonna be alright sis?"

Nepgear slowly nodded. "I'm fine, I just, don't want this to ever happen again to anyone else. I just want to stop the man that did this to him."

 _"Don't worry, once he wakes up, we will."_

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes: Ah ha, he gets shanked hard. Ouch. Enjoy :) Running into some free time at he moment so chapter frequency might increase!_**


	10. Rarely Reasonable Recovery

**Chapter 10: Rarely Reasonable Recovery**

* * *

 _In the unconscious state your body remains still. Still with no movement, no expectation, no disappointment. But inside the mind, it was a different story._

 _All I saw inside was a dark dark darkness. It was extremely boring but I guess getting stabbed was an extremely intense situation. Maybe I needed some "calm time."_

 _"Neptune what are you freaking doing?!" I heard an annoyed voice._

 _"Putting a plot device in his hands! These always wake up the character," she stated. Soon I felt a weird slimy thing in my hand._

 _When I looked at my right hand, I saw a timer on it, ticking down from one minute. I felt another thing in my hand, looking at the left, there was a number that read 00._

 _"What the..." I muttered to myself._

 _"It's no use Neptune, he's not that good!" said another joking voice._

 _"Tell me again why she's in the hospital? Shouldn't we be finding the criminal that did this to him?" said a now more serious voice._

 _As these voices started to talk with each other, I noticed an audible beep coming from my right hand. I realized the time shown was running out, with only a couple seconds left. What did it mean though? The beeping got louder._

 _ **0:03**_

 _ **0:02**_

 _ **0:01**_

 _"I WIN! WOOOO!"_

 _ **BAM**_

* * *

"OWW!" I shouted as I got up immediately. I felt I like I got socked in the face by a controller. Why is there a controller in my hand?

"Oh my, Mikey's finally awake!" Nepgear happily said.

"Ha! As always the winner is me!" Neptune announced before noticing that I was awake. "Oh my Nep! Mikey's alive!" She said before putting me in a bear hug. Her sister followed suit.

"AGH!" I gasped for air.

"Not even 10 seconds and you guys are already killing him," Noire commented as she shook her head.

After a suffocating 10 seconds, they finally let go of me. Well except Neptune, who was trying to get something in my hand.

"Nepu! Let go!" She squealed as she took the controller from my hand. "Ah ha! Victory again!"

As I got a better look around the room I was in, I noticed a person I haven't seen before. There was just a black haired girl. She had a resemblance to a Noire.

Out from the blue, a doctor came into the room.

"Ah Mikey, you seem to be up and running, and I assume your friends already welcomed you back," he said.

"Yup yup! He's full of life points alright!" Neptune said before crushing me with another hug.

"AGH!"

"Well that's good. All we need to do now is perform a checkup on him to make sure everything is fine," he explained. "I'm gonna need you guys to step out the room for just a moment."

* * *

Everyone was just in the hallway, chatting with each other to pass the time.

"So Nepgear, what's up with that hugging?" asked a suspicious Uni as she sat down.

"W-What hugging?"

"I saw that blush you had on your face! Don't think I can't notice little details like that!"

"What no! It's not l-like that!" said a now flustered Nepgear.

"So you do like him!" confirmed Uni.

"What?! Where do you come up with this stuff?!" Nepgear asked with a growing blush.

"A sharpshooter has a sharp eye for everything you know," she bragged. "And besides," she chuckled, "now I know it's true."

Nepgear let out a muffled squeal. "No! Don't tell anyone!" she begged.

"Don't worry I won't! Friends can keep secrets right?" she said jokingly. "Really, all I wanna know is why? My sister says he's some laze like Neptune," she said with a thoughtful expression.

"Well...I-I have my reasons..."

As she continued the door opened, revealing the same doctor that came in. Holding out his clipboard, he read out his report.

"Well Mikey is in good condition. You were lucky the knife was small because the stab did not hit any organs nor sever any arteries. If everything goes well he should be up and running in a couple of weeks."

"Oh that's great!" commented Neptune. "By the way where is IF and Compa?"

"They went out early so they can find some leads on that man that did this," said Noire. "There've been a lot of reports of missing monster spawns since that day."

"Missing monster spawns?" Neptune asked. "Isn't that a good thing? Less monsters less problems right?"

"I don't think having a bloodthirsty man as a replacement is going to do us any good. That man is a menace," stated Noire as she looked at Mikey in the room. He was dozing off peacefully.

"Then what're we going to do?"

"Find him, beat his butt, the usual stuff we do to bad guys!" Neptune confidently said.

Down in the hallways, IF and Compa were back from their brief investigation.

"Ok guys we're back from the area," said IF.

"Did you find anything?" questioned Noire.

"Well we did find this giant roll of poster paper in the building," she said as she took it out from her back.

Noire taking the roll of paper, unrolled it, revealing a map with random writings all over it. Most of the writing was just the names of various locations along with the dates.

"Hey look at what it says here, Virtua Forest 1/24. That was the date for yesterday," she pointed out.

"And there's 1/25, which is Monster Cave. Wait, this couldn't mean...?" IF asked with a worried expression.

"He's probably going there right now," Noire concludes.

"There's our chance to stop him! Let's go girls!" Neptune said as she jumped in the air.

"Woah woah! You said that he was hella strong. I'm not going into a losing battle!" Noire whined.

"Well if we all surprise attack him at once, we can probably take him down and stop him!" suggested Compa.

"I don't see any problem with that," agreed IF.

"Come on Noire! Don't be that lonely stick in the mud!" Neptune coaxed.

"Wait wait, what do you mean lonely?!"

* * *

The girls bickered and left the hospital at the same time, leaving the CPU candidates behind. Uni though wasn't showing any signs of stopping her relentless teasing and hinting.

"Where did the girls go?" Nepgear asked.

"Oh they went out to stop that man. More importantly, it gives us more time to deal with your situation!" Uni said giving off a mischievous smile.

"W-What?! What situation?" she asked with a confused look.

"You know~, Mikey's getting bored in there. Why don't you just go and talk to him?" she asked with a wink.

"T-talk to him..? I guess I can do that," she said quietly.

"Then go do it!" she urged.

With those parting words, Nepgear silently stepped into the room, only to find that Mikey fell asleep. She looked at Uni through the door.

"He's asleep!" Nepgear whispered.

"So? Wake him up!" Uni whispered back.

With a gentle nudge, annoyed groans can be heard from the sleeping boy.

"No! You better not!" He yelled as he tossed and turned in his sleep. He must've been going through an unpleasant nightmare. With another nudge, Mikey soon found himself awake in a now messier bed.

"N-Nepgear..? Wh-what are you doing here?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"I-I thought you could use some company. D-Did you have a nightmare?" she asked as she sat on the bed.

He yawned. "Yeah I had a nightmare. It's just really hard to just sleep in this room," he said with another yawn. "What I'd do for some sleep." Suddenly an idea popped into the little Nep's head.

"Well, maybe I can help you with that!" she said before quickly getting under the sheets of Mikey's bed.

"What the?! What're you doing in my bed?!" Mikey asked trying to nudge away from the girl.

"Come on you need to get to sleep!" she playfully replied. "You helped me sleep, and now it's time for me to return the favor," she muffled under the blankets.

"I-I-I don't think I can just sleep with you here!" he replied with a rising blush. "AGH!" he yelped as Nepgear hugged the boy. Under all those sheets, the heat was building up fast.

"You'll never get nightmares with me here!" Nepgear giggled. Mikey sitting there, face extremely red, tried his best to resist the cute girl's grip. It was a futile effort however. As each graceful second passed, Mikey grew more susceptible to fall into a sleepy dream world.

His quick alert breaths now became smooth and somber snores which gave Nepgear a satisfied smile.

"Good night."

* * *

"Look, there he is now," whispered Neptune, weapon ready at her side.

The four girls stood in the darkness, observing the ferocious man brutally destroy each monster that came into his sights.

"Oh look! A chest!" he exclaimed gleefully. Bending down, he tried opening the chest with much difficulty.

 _"I think it's time."_

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes: Thanks for the all the follows and support so far! Please follow and favorite if you want more! Maybe the ships can and will sail. What am I saying they probably will sail for another day..._**

 ** _:) Enjoy!_**


	11. Terrifically Terrible Times

**Chapter 11: Terrifically Terrible Times**

* * *

 _Despite the people there, the uncomfortable and insecurities still remain. When your brother is a looting shooting sociopath that hates your mere existence, then you might get paranoid. Paranoid about what he is capable of._

* * *

"God damn! Open you infernal chest!" he yelled out as he desperately tried to pry the box open. The only thing he achieved however was becoming exhausted. "Hmph, what to do now..." he said to himself.

"Ok everyone, on the count of three, we all get him down," said IF. Everyone nodded in agreement, weapons drawn, ready to strike.

"One."

"Two."

"Three! Go!" IF shouted as the four girls jumped towards the distracted Leon. Hearing an audible movement behind him, Leon quickly turned around. With quick reflexes he swiftly got out of the way.

 **BOOM**

The rock behind him was reduced to mere dust. He would've been mauled to another dimension if he hadn't moved.

"Oh god what the hell was that?" he asked in surprise. Maintaining his composure, he stood up and realized that four girls were after him. "Who, who are you?!" He happened to only recognize one of them, Neptune.

"We're the people that are going to make you pay!" Neptune declared as she swung her sword around.

"P-Pay? Pay for what?" he asked with a clueless expression.

"You're gonna pay for what you did to Mikey jerk!" Noire said with a confident smile. Everyone in the group was preparing to attack again, and this time, they weren't going to hit another rock.

"Mikey? That little chump? Why are you guys even protecting my brother?" Leon asked with a now disgusted look.

"Br-Brother? He's your brother?" IF asked in disbelief. "How can he be your brother?"

"Because that's how nature works you fool. Believe me, I can't believe it either," he said as he gave them a sadistic grin. "I'm been trying to get rid of him ever since the beginning." He let out a loud chuckle. Looking back at the chest, he gave a loud sigh.

"I suggest you just leave me alone to my business," he coldly said before pulling out a bloodstained katana. The tip of his sword was darker and redder compared to the other parts of the sword. Maybe he used it to spread a bunch of strawberry jelly...

"Whatever, we're not even intimidated by you," Noire said.

"Well if you're not scared then why don't you fight me~?" Leon taunted while sticking his tongue out.

 **SLASH**

"AHH!" he yelled as he jumped back. A large cut was shown on his shoulder where blood started to bleed out shortly after. "Who did that?!" he yelled out in anger. When he looked who was in front of him, he found that Neptune was the one who did it.

"Get him!" IF shouted. Soon the gang charged at Leon, swinging and stabbing their weapons in an attempt to get a hit on him. For Leon, it was a daunting task, defending against four constant attacks at once. Some of their strikes and attacks seemed stronger than usual to him.

"Hrnngh!" He groaned as he showed signs of exhaustion. Blocking, dodging, parrying, each ate a chunk of energy at Leon's disposal. It was certainly a more difficult fight than last time.

"Keep up the pressure girls!" Noire said as she managed to get a hit on his chest, knocking him back onto the rock my wall.

"Grrrnghh!" he groaned in pain as he coughed up some bloody spit. "You and your bloody teamwork, this isn't a fair fight," he said as he sheathed his sword. From his pocket, he pulled out a smoke grenade. "But that's ok, I wasn't going to play fair anyway." Pulling the pin and dropping it down on the ground, the area was soon enveloped in thick smoke letting Leon escape again with ease.

After being in the smoky darkness for a couple minutes, the girls finally regained their sight. None of them were pleased about what just happened.

"Damn it! He freaking got away!" Noire said in a frustrated tone.

"Look on the ground, there's a note," Compa said as she picked up a piece of paper.

The girls gathered around her, confused at first on what the note meant. It read:

 **END SOURCE MEANS END PROBLEM**  
 **END SOURCE MEANS END PROBLEM**  
 **END SOURCE MEANS END PROBLEM**

"What does 'end source means end problem' mean?" IF asked.

"Maybe it's some cheat code for some speed hacks!" Neptune suggested.

"Wait a second, what if it's something relating to us?" Compa asked as she took a closer look at the repeating phrases.

"Like if Mikey's the source of his problems or something? Wait, then that means..."

 _"That wild man is going to end Mikey."_

* * *

I had to say that I got some very good sleep. Sleep that was just pitch black, no nightmares, no weird ass dreams. And I have to say, one of my sides feels particularly warm. Maybe I had some extra blankets over there? As I reached my hand over to feel what was there, I realized I was touching hair. Hair?

I heard a giggle coming from there, and soon I could feel my body getting warmer and somehow tighter. Checking under the blankets, I saw an awoken Nepgear beaming back at me.

"Good morning Mikey!" said a joyful Nepgear. "Did you get a good rest?" she asked.

"Yeah I did," I said as I tried to get out of the bed. A loud growl came from my stomach, must've not eaten breakfast or anything today. "I'm going to go get something to eat, you want anything Nepgear?" I asked as I looked out into the hallway. Without hearing a reply I turned to look back, only to be greeted with a girl up close. First reaction was to backup immediately.

"Come on, let's go get food already!" she urged on as we began to walk down the hallway. Every step we took, I could feel the distance between us getting physically smaller and smaller. Before I knew it, the normally timid girl was now hugging my arm as we turned a corner. I didn't mind but all I wanted to know was what's gotten into her. It seems like she's sort of...attached.

A few minutes of wondering the halls, and luckily enough, we stumbled onto the cafeteria of the hospital. The only person there was that same black haired girl from last time. It seemed like she just finished eating something.

"Oh Nepgear, you came here to get lunch?" the girl asked as she puts down her coffee.

"Yup, what food is there?" she asked as she lets go of my arm.

"Oh just a bunch of sandwiches, I already ate like two so I'm already full," the girl said.

"Oh okay!" she said before going off to get some food.

The girl then notices me. "Oh hey it's that guy! Michael right?" she asked while pointing a finger at me.

"Yep, that's my name," I said as I pulled out a chair to sit on.

"The name's Uni, best shooter in Gamindustri," she boldly declared. "Tell me Mikey, what weapon do you use?"

"I guess I use guns?" I reluctantly said.

"Oh is that so huh? Welp, it looks like I got some competition now," she said jokingly. "Jokes aside, let's get to the real topic."

"The real topic? What real topic?"

She nodded towards Nepgear with a slight grin.

"Nepgear? What about her?"

"She likes you," she said indiscriminately.

After a second of thinking, I shook my head in disbelief. "Wait really? I don't think so," I said with a skeptical look.

"Well, let's just say, she likes something about you," she said with a pensive expression. When I looked at Nepgear, she simply smiled at me and waved. "All I want to know now is just, do you like her?" she asked with an expecting grin.

"Why do you want to know...?" I asked with an unsure look.

"I'm her best friend, and as a best friend, I know some stuff about her romance life," she said as she took out her phone. "Lots of boys wanted to date her, but she rejected them all, can you believe that?" She seemed to be scrolling through some pictures with a small smile on her face. "Mikey, you're a lucky guy."

"Well, when you put it that way, maybe I sort of like, like her..." My voice got quieter as I said those words.

"I knew it. Don't worry, I can keep a secret!" she said as she winked at me.

"I'm back with the food guys, anyone want some?" Nepgear asked while taking a bite out of a sandwich.

"Nah, I'm fu-" I was interrupted by a piece of bread shoved into my mouth.

"Oops Mikey, no talking with your mouth full!" Uni taunted.

* * *

"Okay okay, I'm not okay with this at all." Noire stated as she gave off a disappointed sigh. "The hospital is pretty far away, that man can get there faster than we can, what can we do?"

"Wait hold that thought, I see him!" Neptune said as she pointed down the street. Everyone looked down in that area and surely enough, past all the citizens and civilians, there was a familiar looking person running down the street. No one seemed to mind though, it's not uncommon to see someone in a hurry.

"Quick we need to chase him down!" IF said before going on pursuit. Soon the others joined in. Many turns, jumps, dodges, and other acrobatic actions were a common thing during the chase. Noire had a particularly hard time trying to catch up with the others, what with all the sharp turns and unpredictable movements.

"How long is he going to run?" she complained as she kept on running.

Eventually they lose track of him on one of the turns, making them start from square one. Why

"Did we just seriously run for nothing...?" IF asked in an annoyed tone.

"Wait guys isn't that the hospital right down there?" Noire asked as she got a better look.

"Yeah that is, so what?" Neptune asked as she sat down against a wall. Out of the blue, a thought came to her head. "Isn't Mikey at the hospital?"

"Yeah he is, and if Leon is after him, we have to get our move on quickly," IF added. "If we're fast enough, we can probably catch him then."

 **BOOOOM**

A sudden firefly explosion engulfed the ground level of the building. Black smoke and shrapnel were spewed out into the surrounding area.

"What the shit?" Noire cursed out. "Who the hell did that? It couldn't be Leon right?"

"No man can cover a distance like that in just a few seconds. Now I know he's hacking," Neptune commented. "More importantly, our friends are in there!"

A sudden rustling of leaves can be heard to the side. Soon a figure rose from the bushes, a disappointed expression.

"I really really thought that would be bigger, well my work isn't cut out for me." Leon said as he threw away a remote. Looking to his right, he realized he just made another mistake.

 **"Get him!"**

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Not sure about direction, but I'll find out a way! Please follow and favorite if you're enjoying this story so far. I'd just like to say thanks to all the people who supported me so far. Have a good day and have fun reading! Schedule might be a little weird, but I'm hoping I might update weekly or something along the lines of that.**_


	12. Ludicrous Lengthy Leisures

**Chapter 12: Ludicrous Lengthy Leisures**

* * *

 _There were some smoke, some fire, some rocks, stuff that shouldn't be inside a hospital. Whenever I met with a great danger, my one and only instinct is to run. Running gets away from the problem, running gets away from the issue. But what do you do, when there's people involved?_

* * *

"Chase me or not, I will still get away losers," Leon said as he stuck his tongue out at the girls in pursuit. Actually paying attention, he noticed that only three of them were in front of him. The only missing one was Neptune. "Where they hell cou-AH SHIT!" he yelled out as he was taken to the ground. All he heard now was a giggle hovering above his now prone body.

"Neptune does it again! Master of stealth!" she announced.

"Huh, I gotta say you took that jerk down pretty well," IF said with a smirk. "Anyone got rope or something so he won't escape?"

Everyone nodded no, giving Leon something to smile about.

"Maybe we could use these old rags?" suggested Noire as she picked up some scattered cloth. Giving it to IF she quickly turned the old rags into some decently sturdy rope.

"I guess it works," IF said as she swiftly tied up his hands.

"Let me go!" he shouted as he tried to escape his restraints.

"That's the last thing we're going to do, we have to get people to the damage site to make sure everyone's okay," Noire said as she looked at the still burning fire. "IF, Neptune, why don't you take him to the Basilicom so he can be detained?"

"On it, Neptune is always the best guard!"

"Sure, we can do that," IF said as she looked at the prone boy.

 _"What could possibly go wrong?"_

* * *

About fifteen minutes passed since the explosion occurred, Noire and Compa were just arriving to the scene. Firefighters and other emergency response teams were already taking care of the sudden situation. With constant fire extinguishing pressure applied to the inferno, it soon started showing signs of dying out.

"It looks like most of it has gotten under control," IF commented.

"I don't see Uni and them anywhere though," Noire said with a worried expression.

"I think thats's the last of them," a man said as three people came out of the smoking doors. Noire and Compa didn't even recognize any of the people hanging around outside.

"Maybe we should look around the outside of the building, they could've escaped some other way," Compa suggested.

"Good idea. Let's go," Noire said before the two started to survey the area. First thing they noticed was a broken window on the side of the building. There was a large torn piece of clothing stained by a little bit of blood just hanging over the window.

"C-Could this be a lead?" Compa asked as she picked up the torn piece.

"Possibly, the room in there is completely burnt however," Noire commented as she looked through the glass-less window.

 **COUGH HACK COUGH**

The two suddenly heard loud and deep coughs just ahead of them.

"I feel like I can't...god damn breathe..." a weak voice said. They heard more coughing soon after.

"M-Mikey! Why is he coughing so much?!" said a familiar panicked voice.

"Sit him up sit him up! Let him get some fresh air!" said a commanding voice followed by some more coughing.

When Noire and Compa went to check what was over there, they saw Nepgear and Uni desperately trying to make Mikey stop coughing so violently.

"Oh hey it's Noire and Compa! They can help us!" Nepgear said with a relieved smile.

"Oh my, what happened to Mikey here?" Compa asked while inspecting the coughing boy. Mikey had black soot all over his face and arms. It became apparent that he inhaled too much smoke.

"Did anyone of you guys get hurt?" Noire asked as she also took a good look at the coughing boy.

"All of us are ok, but...I can't say the same for Mikey over here," Uni said as she patted his back. "Where are the others?"

"IF and Neptune are out getting Leon detained at the Basilicom. I just hope they're doing their job," Noire said.

"Here Mikey, drink this water," Nepgear said while handing the boy an unopened bottle. To her surprise, he drank the whole bottle in mere seconds.

"AARGH!" he shouted as he violently coughed out some weird black stuff. "Oh god! That taste is going to be in my mouth for ages," he said with a disgusted look.

"At least you're not coughing anymore," Uni commented while getting up.

"Well even with that fact, I still feel hella beat..." he said as he got up to lean on a nearby tree. "What are we going to do now?"

"Head back to the Basilicom, check up on Neptune and IF, and interrogate that Leon character over there," Noire said.

"Interrogate, why would we do that?" Compa asked curiously.

"To get info about him and Mikey, what's there to lose?"

* * *

All I could say was that I didn't feel too good on the trip back to the Basilicom. I felt a lot of things that I could only describe as a tired burnt feeling. I don't know why I keep getting caught in dangerous ass situations like hospital fires, but I do know that I was never alone during any of those times. I guess I was sort of glad that I wasn't alone, cause I'd have died if it weren't for them.

"Noire, do you see this?" Uni teased as she and Noire were walking in front of us.

"See what?" I asked with a skeptical look.

"Nothing!" she said in an innocent tone.

Nepgear was to the right of me, fiddling with her fingers and what not. She had this unsure smile on her face the whole time. I wanted to know what was going on.

"Nepgear, something on your mind?"

She looked at me then looked away, almost like she was avoiding something.

"D-Do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked as she looked at me with a slight blush. Love at first sight? Does it have something to do with what Uni said before?

"Well, I believe in love at any sight," I said with a shrug. "Just tell them how you feel, and it'll probably...work out."

Nepgear looked down when we turned a corner on the path.

"M-Mikey..." she muttered under her breath.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, I felt my hand being clasped. When I looked down, I discovered that we were actually holding hands. Nepgear let out a small giggle when she looked at my sudden vacant face.

"Do you like it when we're walking like this?" she asked as she beamed a smile at me. I don't know why, but seeing that smile made me feel some feeling I've never felt before. Before you know it I had a starry-eyed smile on my face.

"I think he does like it~" Uni teased as she looked back at us.

"What did you say?!"

* * *

The moment I stepped into that Basilicom, I was immediately dragged by Neptune into her gaming area. I did really need a break from all those crazy events. What better way to spend it but by playing video games?

"So so so Mikey, what do you want to play?" she said eagerly as she turned on the console. As I was looking around, one game caught my eye.

"I want to try out that Call of Neppy game right there," I said as I pointed at it.

"Ooooh, good choice. That's one of my favorite games!" I heard a stomach growl. "Oh I'm hungry, I'm gonna get us some pudding!" she said before happily running off. Right after she was out of sight, I heard a door open from down the hallway.

"Back with the food!" a cheery voice exclaimed as I felt another weight on the couch. All Neptune bought here was pudding and soda, my two favorite foods. "Welp, no use in waiting, let's dig in!" She soon threw me a cup and a spoon.

"Well let's start playing!" I said as I heavily slouched in the couch.

"Feed me pudding."

"W-What?"

"Feed me pudding while I play the game!" she said as she pointed towards her mouth.

"What no! You're insane!" I said as I took ate another scoop. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're Mikey, and we all know Mikey always feed adorable girls pudding!"

I grabbed a controller and gave her a cocky smile.

"I don't feel like it." I said as I slouched into the couch. "Why don't you ju-HMmm!" A spoonful of pudding was shoved into my mouth. I didn't like the spoon, but I did like the vanilla.

"W-What was that for?!" I asked as she quickly took the spoon out.

"Well if you're not going to feed the protagonist, I've no other choice but to make you feed me!" Neptune chirped while putting a spoon in my hand. She opened her mouth while trying to put on an adorable face. I knew it wasn't right of me to withhold pudding from a person like this!

"Oh fine, you win," I said in defeat as I fed her a spoonful.

"Yes! The hero wins again!" she exclaimed. "Where's Nep Jr? She's supposed to be witnessing this brilliance!"

"I think she's down there with the others."

"Well, if no one's going to be here to see my recent victory, I have no other choice..." she said with a grin.

"No other choice for what?" I hesitantly asked.

"No other choice but to punish the loser!"

"Wait punish th-AHH!" I squealed as I felt a ticklish sensation take place around my armpits. "H-Hey s-stop it!" I said before letting out a laugh.

"Oooooh, so you're ticklish hmm?"

"P-please stop! I-I'm going t-" I can't even get my words out before laughing. Such a shame I was born a ticklish person.

"This is what you get for disobeying me!" she giggled as she tried going for other ticklish spots.

"I'm outta here if that's what's going to happe-AH!"

* * *

"Well, Leon was a huge waste of time. He didn't even talk the whole time," Noire said while rolling her eyes.

"I guess people fall silent if they're trapped," IF stated. Her pocket buzzed prompting her to take out her phone. "Oh what's this? Sightings of explosions all over Planeptune?" she asked with a skeptical face.

"E-Explosions, like the one in that hospital?" Nepgear asked.

 _"It seems so. Get the team here, it's time to go investigating once again."_

 _"I'll go get Neptune and Mikey then."_

* * *

 **Omake #1: HyperDimension-34**  
 **(Warning: Contains some "suggestive" stuff, if you know what I mean)**

In the workshop of a geeky CPU candidate, Mikey found himself witnessing Leon's new invention.

"Leon, tell me, what the hell is that in your hand?" Mikey pointed out.

"A dimensional portal gun," he nonchalantly replied. "You can travel to different dimensions with this thing."

"W-Wait, how did you even make that?" he asked with a skeptical look.

"With triggers and science. It's hella easy if you're a genius unlike you," he stated while trying to aim the device. A moment later, he pulled the trigger which instantly spawned a bright rotating vortex on the middle of the wall.

Mikey, now entranced and curious of the possibilities of the device, looked inside the portal.

"Don't go sticking your head in there, you might die."

"Wait what?!" Mikey shouted before pulling his head away. Leon let out a loud chuckle.

"Just messing with you dumbass, now come on, I need to test this thing," he said as he entered through the swirling circle. Mikey followed suit, and both of them were soon inside. They didn't get teleported, but instead ended up in a room where the colors in the room matched the colors of the portal. It was empty except for the fact that it had a door with a number on it.

"What's that door for?"

"That door is the entrance to another dimension. All we need to do is input a number."

"What are the numbers for?"

"Each number corresponds to a different version of the dimension we are in right now. Currently, this device says we are in Dimension H-1. If you were to put in a number like 23 and enter through the door, you would end up in Dimension H-23," he explained.

"Does that mean we can meet a different version of ourselves?"

"Not really because once we're in the dimension, the alternate versions of ourselves will be erased until we completely leave."

"I feel like all of this is bullshit..." Mikey quietly said.

"It's not bullshit, it's science. This is why I'm the genius and you're not. Gimme a number."

"How about 34?"

The number on the door soon changed from 00 to 34. Leon now opening the door, signaled Mikey to enter first.

"Ladies first."

Upon both of them entering through a door, a burst of blinding light took over their sights. Only lasting a couple of seconds, the two soon found themselves in the same room they were in before. The same workshop, the same scattered parts, the same look.

"Here, take this gun." Leon handed him a powerful looking pistol.

"What's this for?"

"You never know what could happen in this version Mikey. There might be incredibly subtle changes or incredibly drastic changes in this dimension. Can't risk anything," he said while taking a look around. "Let's explore this place. I'll go in this direction and you search around here. Also, don't let anyone see you. This device says that the people in this dimension are full of lust."

"O-Okay." Soon, Leon headed out into the nearby hallway, disappearing around the corner.

"Well, let's see what we have here," Mikey said as he put the gun in his pocket. Upon exiting the workshop and walking around in the hallways, he soon found himself at the all too familiar gaming area. The couch looks the same, the games are the same, the scattered food looks all the same. What could be different in this dimension?

"There's no one here..." he muttered. Suddenly a door opened, prompting Mikey to hide behind the couch. The person that came out of the room was Purple Heart, who happened to look a bit _ruffled up_.

"I really thought that _she could last longer_ ," she commented while yawning. From the other side of the room, I could see Nepgear running towards her.

"Sis! Sis! Have you seen Mikey? I can't find him anywhere!"

"Wasn't he in your workshop? You should go look there, I gotta get a drink," Neptune said before heading down towards Leon's area. All Mikey had to worry about was not getting caught by this dimension's Nepgear now.

"Mikey~? Where are you? You promised me that you would have _fun_ with me!" she said as she looked into the workshop room. Fun with her? What does she mean by that?

"Aww, he's not even in there! It's like he disappeared," Nepgear pouted before looking up at the couch. Unfortunately for Mikey, she caught a glimpse of his hair hiding behind the couch. Even worse, he was oblivious to the fact that he got detected. When she finally got out of Mikey's sight, he decided to get out and continue exploring.

"That was a close one," he commented. "I wonder what they have in their fridge?" Discreetly and quietly opening the refridgerator, he found that the insides had no food.

"AH!" he squealed as he saw two arms wrapped around his chest. He heard that all too familiar giggle from the back of his head. When he looked back, he saw Nepgear with a particularly seductive smile. "W-What are you doing!?"

"You silly! You said you had the best time playing with me!"

"P-Playing with you?!" He blushed profusely when he realized what she was talking about.

"Yup!" He feels his pants being unbuckled. At that moment, he realized that getting caught was the worst mistake he has done today.

 _"Let me help you relieve your stress!"_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: First off, thank you for helping this story reach over 4,200 views! It may not be much but for me, that's a huge milestone! This chapter is more a "rest easy" chapter, but don't worry, something else is being planned.**_

 _ **UPDATE: Added an omake because it just popped into my head. Tell me what you think about it, should I continue with these things? Just wanted to try a new concept with dimensions and stuff. You know why it's called Dimension-34. You definitely know.**_


	13. Barely Breakable Bonds

**Chapter 13: Barely Breakable Bonds**

* * *

 _You do something about it when something goes wrong. What do you do when something goes right?_

 _Trick question._

 _Something always goes wrong._

* * *

"Neptune, I don't know how to break it to you, but I think you ran out," I said while putting on a solemn face. I knew the emptiness of the fridge was too much for her to handle.

"B-But, Nepu!" she pouted as she closed and reopened the fridge. Alas, the frozen treat was truly gone, a fine shame. "Nepu!" she said as she closed and opened the fridge again.

"I think you should stop. That pudding ain't going to come back," I said as I reached into my pocket. Odd, was I carrying ice or something? Pulling it out, I was surprised to see the highly sought after food item, pudding.

"You! You stole the pudding!" Neptune accused as she caught a glimpse of the cup. Realizing what I just did, I shoved the food all the way back in.

"W-What? Pudding? The hell is that? Don't exist!" I nonchalantly said as I tried to look around for an exit.

"Give it up," she commanded.

"What? No," I said as I nodded my head.

"What did you say?" she asked as she titled her head.

"I s-said no." I backed up some more.

"You're going to deny a CPU of her right?" she said as she locked her gaze on my pocket.

"If right as in not giving you pudding, then yes. I think you had enough Neptune," I stated as I focused my sight on her. No idea what's she capable of. No idea. I'm scared. A grin appeared on her face.

"Welp, even if I have to do this to a friend, you leave me no choice. Nepu!"

* * *

Hoping to get something out of Leon, Noire hesitantly returned to the holding cell that housed the pernicious boy. Bricks, bars, and gray, everything to set the mood. He seemed to be more talkative this time around, whether it would be detrimental or beneficial for Noire's part.

"Come onnnnn, let me out," Leon said as he tried to shake the bars. "I didn't do anything wrong~"

"Who in there right mind would let you out?" Noire asked as she looked away from the bars.

"I would, and I'm always in the right of mind. I could tell that you don't get a lot of friends, what being mean and all that," he said with a smirk.

"Says the one that stabbed his own brother. What kind of sibling are you?" she asked in disgust.

"The good kind," he replied with a big smile. "Come on, I was trying to be extremely edgy! Killing things, stabbing things, uhm, eating things and what not."

"Edgy?" she turned around with a confused look. To her, he came off as a arrogant destructive teenager with too much on his mind. An arrogant lonely destructive teenager mind you. "There's a reason we're called CPU's you know. We're cool popular units. I can obviously tell that you're not cool."

"Say what you want girl. I don't give a damn," he replied while he started to lie on the cold concrete floor. "Soon, I'll be outta here. You'll see." Out of nowhere, he pulled out a strange looking device that seemed to be just charging up. "Well, see ya. Tell Mikey that I've left a little gift at one of those... spots. It's been horrible knowing you."

"Wait wh-"

 **BOOOM**

A white blinding light engulfed the whole room in a covering of pure brightness. No one in the room had the chance to see anything, making a perfect opportunity for somebody to escape. Not through bars, but through some other type of exit. Fortunately the blinding light was only temporary, leaving Noire to be able to see clearly after a minute or so.

"What the hell was that?!"

The door behind her soon opened, revealing a concerned Uni.

"I-I just heard a large bang, anything crazy happen here?!" she questioned as she looked around the unaffected room.

"H-He disappeared!" Noire said in disbelief. Through the bars of the cell, there was nothing there but a broken piece of glass.

"Does that mean he's gone?"

"I'm not so sure, maybe Historie has an explanation for this," the big sister said before leaving the flashed room. It was apparent that she needed answers.

"Come back with the pudding!" yelled out a pudding-deprived voice.

"You're going to kill me over a piece of pudding of course I won't come back!" yelled out an energy-deprived voice.

Noire sighed as she walked out to discover Neptune fiercely chasing down Mikey. Futile effort for Mikey though, the energetic girl was simply too fast for the poor boy. Nepgear who just found them running around, was having a hard time following them.

"Hiya!" she shouted before tacking Mikey, pinning him down.

"Oh Neptune, what are you doing this time..." she nodded her head in disapproval.

"Retrieving what is rightfully mine. Another victory for me!" she proclaimed as she raised up her reward up in the air. She happened to be sitting on Mikey's back while doing so.

"And I thought it wouldn't hurt. Woe is me..." Mikey let out before putting his face down into the floor.

"Hmph, serves him right," Noire joked. "Perverts like you ought to be punished."

"Neptune what is the meaning of this?!" said a now troubled book fairy. "I leave this room for only ten minutes, and you're already trying to sit on somebody?!" Neptune didn't even bother looking at her, she just rapidly scarfed down her spoils of war. Historie, noticing Mikey, remembered something about her recently obtained information. "Oh Mikey, I have some information regarding your mysterious teleportation to this world."

He lifted his head up with a surprised expression. "Really?"

"Yes. It seems that the dimensions of both your world and ours has a common link between each other. A link between two worlds."

"A-A link? Like a tunnel where you can enter and exit?" Noire asked, hoping for an explanation for what just happened in the jail cell.

"Precisely, in order for the link to work, you need to have a catalyst in order to connect the worlds. I found out that in this world, doing certain things at certain times can activate a one-time one-way link going from here to back to his home. It seems that Leon here had knowledge of this."

"So that explains why Leon's gone," Noire said while looking back at the events.

"Y-Yup, my brother is an evil genius, that explains it," Mikey commented before trying to overcome Neptune's relentless sitting.

"Well, with that outta the way, I think we should head back home Noire," Uni suggested.

"Oooh no! We're not going home empty handed Uni. Mikey, is coming with us," she stated with a determined expression.

"M-Mikey?! Why do you want him?" Neptune asked with a surprised look.

"Isn't it obvious? You're obviously a bad influence on him," Noire claimed. "I just feel obligated showing him the best place in the world, that's all."

"What?! Impossible! Hacks! No way!" Neptune said. With arguments back and form, the two soon devolved into arguing. Luckily for Mikey, Neptune got up in the process, finally freeing him from his back oppression.

"Ah! I think I need to go take a walk. This back is killing me."

* * *

Turns out I didn't like walking for a long time. My legs were sore from trying to outrun the pursuing Neptune, so I stopped at a nearby bridge going across a small, gently flowing river. If there's nothing I would mind seeing, it would be rivers. Rivers are calm, I like being calm. Sometimes I wonder if it bothers me that I can't really fight anything; all the girls I've met seem to be quite proficient at it. I've seen some of them even transform, probably raising their fighting capability at an exponential rate. With monsters running rampant at every corner, combat was probably a necessity.

"Mikey! Mikey!" Turning around, I was surprised to see Nepgear out here. What could she want?

"H-Hey Nepgear, what brings you here?" I asked as I leaned over the rail.

"Oh, I just wanted to talk to you about something..." she shyly replied as she stood next to me.

"Talk to me about what?"

"W-Well, I've been wondering if-if you want to go out with me to the arcade tonight...?"

"G-Go out? You mean, just the two of us?" I asked as I felt some sweat drip down my face. First time anyone said that to me, so of course I'd be taken back.

"Y-Yeah! Just us two, spending time together. Doesn't that sound fun?" She gave me hopeful smile. I just couldn't say no to her.

"S-Sure! I'm down to go to the arcade," I replied with a slight smile.

"Do you promise?" she playfully asked before sticking out her pinky finger. Entwining my pinky with hers, a radiant smile soon grew on her face.

 _"I promise."_

* * *

"I could safely say, I totally won the argument," Neptune said with a contented face.

"Keep telling yourself that," Noire replied with a smirk. "You never fail to waste my time."

After a few vacant seconds of standing still, Noire just remembered something. Didn't Leon mention something about a present before he left? The thought of what this boy had left for his brother, enticed her to check out the cell once again. To her disappointment, nothing was there. That's from her first glance however.

 **PLONK**

"Hmm?" She looked back at towards the cell. She saw a box-shaped object with a frilly bow on top of it. It certainty wasn't there seconds ago. "Now this is just weird," she muttered as she unlocked and slid the bar door open. After turning on some mildly dim lights, it was revealed that the box had a "festive" themed design on it. He must've really meant it when he said present.

"Aww, this is nice," she commented before picking it up. It was a lot heavier than she thought. There happened to be a note attached to the box.

Written in ink, it read:

 _ **Dear Michael,**_

 _ **If you're reading this, I have officially ditched this dimension, dooming you to roam here forever or something like that. I did a lot of things to get where I am today, and I've decided to give you something that can probably extend your survival by only mere minutes. The funny thing is, you probably can't even use this. Hope you're having a terrifically terrible time here!**_

 _ **Might be wondering why I'm helping you?**_

 _ **I was bored so I felt like it. Don't expect more amigo.**_

 _ **Sorry not sorry,**_

 _ **Leon.**_

"So it's something that's going to help Mikey eh?" Noire questioned as she shook the box. "I guess it wouldn't be right for me to open this. I'll just leave it where Mikey can see it."

* * *

I gotta say, I was really looking forward to going out with her to the arcade. The games were plentiful and classic, the atmosphere was familiar, and I had somebody to accompany me. I can't tell why, but I feel like she's in a chipper mood all of a sudden. Maybe she was eager to play and have some fun.

"We're here Mikey! What do you wanna do first?" she asked while giving off an eager smile.

"How about those claw games?" I suggested.

"Sounds good, let's go!" she said before happily dragging me off into the giant group of claw games. Upon arrival, I was surprised, what with how many there were. Each of them had a different plushy to win. I swear I saw that plumber before.

"Hey look! There's that cute pink plushy in this one. I'm going to get it," Nepgear announced with a determined look in her eyes. She seemed to be very meticulous with the joystick, only moving by little once the claw was above the target. "You're mine now!" she said as she pressed the button that would lead to the claw's descent. Unfortunately, the claw didn't get a good enough grasp, leaving the plushy at the same place it was before.

"Aww, so close. Wanna try?" she asked.

"Sure. I don't think I can get it though," I jokingly said as I looked at the plushy. Claw games, I'm not sure how I feel about those. I just let the claw over the target, and push the button to let it do it's work.

"Eh? Ehh?" Nepgear asked in surprise. "You actually got it!" she said. Looking back, I saw that the claw actually took a hold of it. Moments later, I see the newly earned plushy drop into the box, ready for pickup.

"Oh this is nice," I commented as I picked up the plushy. It felt fluffy and comfy, and it even had an adorable face on it. Kind of reminded me of someone. Maybe, just maybe, I could be the generous person today.

"I-I wanted to give this t-to you..." I shyly said as I offered her the plushy. She seemed to be surprised at the sudden gesture.

"W-What really? F-For me? You really mean it?" she asked while growing a slight blush. "You're giving this to m-me?"

"Y-Yes I-AH!" I yelped when I felt a crushing hug take place on my body. With the plushy still in my hand, I was rendered immobile under the girl's embrace. All I could hear now was a muffled giggle coming from my shoulder. Did I do something, right? I looked at my shoulder, and all I could make out was long lilac hair covering my arm. It wasn't long before she got off, and man, I have to admit, she looked really happy.

"Thank you!" she said as she looked at me with a beaming smile. "It really means a lot to me, so I'll treasure this forever!" she said as she began to hug the plushy. When I turned away from her, I already felt a tug on my shoulder.

"Hmm?" I said as I looked back.

"Wanna go into the photo booth?" Nepgear suggested. "I wanna see you smile!"

"S-Smile? I-I don't even smile," I said with a shocked look. My excuses weren't stopping the determined girl. Sooner or later, I ended up being in the booth with her. Funny how that works.

"W-With the two of us here, this feels so small," she giggled. When I looked to the side, I didn't notice how close she was to me. "Hey look, the camera is about to take a picture, say cheese!"

 **SNAP**

After the picture was taken, a picture was soon dispensed from the machine. Using my swift hands, I quickly snatched it before anyone could have the chance to see it. A small square picture, a testament to the things we've done here. You got me, a smiling boy, radiating with joy next to a girl, beaming with eagerness and joy. Wait what? I never recalled making that face!

"Mikey, can I see the picture?" Nepgear said as she peered over my shoulder.

* * *

It was getting incredibly late at night, when we were returning to the Basilicom. Everything was dark, everything was lights out. So late, you could say that Neptune even went to sleep.

"You know Nepgear, I-I really had a good time with you," I said as I yawned under the blankets.

"W-Well, I-I had a really fun time with you too. W-Wanna do this...again?" she timidly asked with a hopeful smile.

"I'd like that."

I felt a warmth press against my body, giving me that same feeling of cozy heat building up. I heard a muffled giggle coming from the back.

 _"Good night!"_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Just wanted to point out, yes this fluff is probably going to give you cavities but you know, brush your teeth and stuff and it's all going to be ok.**_

 _ **Dunno how, but this chapter got long, much longer than my other chapters. Nonetheless, follow and favorite if you enjoyed this chapter and have a beautiful time!**_


	14. Bad Box Battles

**Chapter 14: Bad Box Battles**

* * *

 _I've seen lots of things come out of boxes: food, dogs, food dogs. I don't even know how he got a portal in there. He's a terribly smart, terrible brother._

 _Just like back home._

* * *

"Oh geez, I feel so famished..." I weakly said as I laid my head on the counter. Nepgear looking at my half-asleep face, let out a small giggle. It was the morning and my stomach was hungry. Naturally, I would be tired.

"Mikey, did you not eat anything yesterday?" she asked before opening the fridge.

"Nope, I feel so empty..." I complained as my stomach ferociously growled in hunger. When I bothered to look back up at the girl, I was surprised to see her having an pink apron on. It really matched her hair.

"Well I'm going to put an end to that! I'll be sure to get you right up!" Nepgear proclaimed with a look of determination. After a few minutes of silence, delightful aromas soon emerged from the kitchen, tickling my senses. As I looked to see what was happening, I can hear her playfully humming a tune. The smell soon got stronger, prompting me to get actually lift my head up to see what's cooking.

"T-That smells really good, what're you cooking there Gear?" I inquired as I started to peer from the counter. She looked back with a resolute smile.

"I'm cooking something that'll get you up and running!" she replied as she pulled out more ingredients from the cabinets. "After all, you made me run after you last night!" she joked before turning back.

* * *

 _Flashback_

 _"Mikey wait!" Nepgear said as she desperately tried to catch up._

 _"But I cant hold it in any longer!" I replied while trying my best to hold the water in. Why did I even drink that big soda?! "Where's the freaking bathroom?!" I frustratedly said as I looked around the streets._

* * *

"Oh, w-we don't talk about that," I shyly said as I realized what she was talking about. Waiting for the food to be done, I looked around the room to see if there was anything interesting. For the most part, everything looks the same. However, when I looked under a chair, I saw a weird festive-looking box underneath it.

"What is this...?" I said before carefully picking up the box. It had a note attached to it.

I didn't know how this box got here, but I did know one thing.

 _I wanted to open it._

"But wait Mikey, what if it's something dangerous?" my mind cautioned. "Did you even bother reading the note?"

My body made another growl. I knew my choice. Body over mind. With no other considerations in hand, I quickly opened the box, making the lid fly in the air. What the first thing I saw in there, was black. Just black. Black like you're looking into a bottomless pit. It was so black that it looks like it's getting bigger and bigger.

 **THUD**

The box suddenly made a loud thud. Moments later, I could feel an incredible force trying suck my body into the box. I just realized I opened a blackhole.

"AHHHH!" I yelled out as I could feel a part of my body just getting smushed into the box. Seconds later, more of my body began to get sucked in. Soon, the only thing that wasn't in the box was my panicked head and my flailing arms.

When I could feel that all hope was lost, I could feel my arms being grabbed with a great deal of effort.

"Mikey! Hold on!" Nepgear said as she tried her hardest to pull me out. It seems the force of the box was overpowering her strength. "What even is this?!"

Soon even Nepgear felt herself getting dragged into the dangerous box.

"Nepgear save yourself! Don't fall into the box!" I called out as I tried to make her let go. Despite her efforts, more of my body soon disappeared into the darkness of the container.

"Never! I won't let you go!" she announced as she kept pulling me even harder. Unfortunately, due to the box's relentless attraction, I saw that Nepgear lost her balance and she ended up getting sucked in too. When I was finally in the box, I found myself floating through space, blackness and darkness surrounding me. The only thing I could still feel was somebody hanging onto my arm.

"M-Mikey?" a voice called out. Looking to my left, I could see Nepgear was holding onto my arm, a worried expression on her face. "W-Where are we?"

"You know, I'm not sure," I said as I looked around. "W-What is that?!" I asked as I saw a light in the distance grow bigger and bigger.

 **BANG**

An incredibly blinding light engulfed our sights, where instead of seeing black everywhere, I was seeing pure white. For some reason, I could feel branches and leaves under my butt with twigs, somehow scraping against my face. I could now hear sounds that were akin to what you find in nature. The light soon disappeared from my retinas, and I could fully take in where we are.

"Oh, a forest," I spoke slowly as I checked to see if Nepgear was still with me. Luckily she was, lying down on a patch of bushes and branches. She slowly got up, and took a look at her surroundings. She must've known that we were in a forest too.

"Mikey, where are we...?" she timidly asked before we both got up. It seemed like the trees surrounding us for a great distance with little paths weaving through the dense forest.

"I'm not sure, let's walk around," I said as I started to walk in one direction. Nepgear nodded and followed suit. After a couple minutes of walking, we came across an unusual sight. Many rocks were blocking the path as if someone wanted to block off that area. Words were hastily carved into the rocks, reading:

 **DANGER DOGOO DANGER**  
 **INCREDIBLE DIFFICULTY**  
 **STAY OUT**

"Incredible difficulty?" Nepgear asked. "I never knew that dogoos were that dangerous..."

"That's probably cause they aren't. Maybe they're trying to hide something from us! Let's see what's over there," I said before trying to go around the rocks. These bushes on the side were really prickly.

"Are you sure that's a good idea Mikey?"

"Of course, when am I ever wrong?" I looked back at her with a smirk. Suddenly, the bushes started ruffling. An innocent looking dogoo soon popped out afterwards, turning its gaze on me. It had that smile, that indifferent smile it gave me when I first encountered these things. "What are you looking at?" I said as I gave the dogoo a menacing stare.

More bushes started to ruffle. Red headbands soon started to pop out from the foliage. They happened to be dogoos too, but they seem to have grimmer, angrier expressions than the one I just saw.

"Mikey do you see anything?" she asked before trying to go to see where I am.

"Uhm..." I nervously said as I looked around. There were probably hundreds of red-banded angry dogoos around here. A dogoo with a black bandana jumped right in front of me. The dogoo had a bunch of war-themes medals, somehow sticking onto its slimy body.

The dogoo scoffed at me, a scornful expression plastered on its face.

"You seem to have wandered onto our lands human. Surely you have read the rock on the path," it spoke in a deep gritty tone. Nepgear finally got a look at what I was facing. She was left speechless for a second.

"Y-Your l-lands..?" she timidly asked.

"Yes! Our lands. You must be thieves trying to take our sacred treasures!" it shouted accusingly.

"W-What we're not thieves, we just wondered here by accident!" I quickly said as I backed up slowly. As I backed up, it felt like I was stepping into some sticky puddle. Looking down, there was a blue splash of goo under my foot.

"N-Not thieves?! W-We should've known! You must've been those questers that murder our dear brethren! Pillaging our habitats, stealing our treasures, is there no end to your transgressions?" it asked while looking at the goo with a sense of melancholy.

"W-W-We're so-"

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" it boldy said. "You think a 'sorry' can bring back the lives of the THOUSANDS of dogoos you people have slaughtered?! All we wanted to have was one thing, ONE THING. To have a safe place where our people can flourish and grow without the dangers of murderous infidels such as your kind." The dogoo jumped on a tree branch.

"Men! Ready your weapons!" it announced. All those dogoos out there, those red headband wearing dogoos, pulled out various types of weapons from their bodies. Most of them, being firearms or every kind I can see. Shotguns, machine guns, sub-machine guns, pistols, and I could even see sniper dogoos in the distance.

"M-Mikey, w-what's happening?" Nepgear asked as she took a look around the much more dangerous slime dogs.

"What's happening, is our vengeance. Our vengeance against the scourge of the world: the monsters. You showed our kind no mercy. Therefore, we are obliged to do the same," it ominously said before looking away. All those dogoos were now readying their weapons, taking aim in anticipation for what's going to happen next. The hailstorm.

"FIRE!"

"Run!" I shouted before running away, dragging Nepgear along with me.

 **BANG BANG BANG BANG**

Not even a second had passed, and the now resolute dogoos had already opened fire on us. Luckily, trees are very good bullet sponges, so we hid behind one of those after determining that it was a "safe" distance away.

"W-What are we going to do?!" I frantically asked before carefully peeking around the tree. It was amazing how we didn't get hit.

"M-Maybe we could fight them off? They're just dogoos after all," she suggested before pulling out a glowing saber sword. After getting a look, she immediately pulled back. "Never mind..."

"Quick my comrades! The cowards are hiding behind that mighty tree. Fire the rocket launcher!" said a commanding voice.

 **FRRRRRRRRR**

A roaring missile was soon heard, inching closer and closer on our soon-to-be annihilated position.

 _"WHAT THE F-"_

 **BOOOOOOOOOOM**

* * *

"Arrrgh..." I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes. I was greeted by the open plains of the lands. No dense trees, no horribly determined dogoos, just sun and grass. Slowly getting up, a giant patch of dirt happened to be laid in front of me. Feeling my face and looking around, it seems that the rocket must've blasted us out of the forest. In the tall grass, a mere few meters ahead, laid a girl, face up from the ground. Worry washed over my brain. I clumsily walked over to her to see if she was even ok.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure in the distance. A little short compared to me, but the figure had a rifle on them.

 _"Well well well, if it isn't the two lovebirds."_

* * *

 **Omake 2: A Bad Dream**

Everything in the Basilicom was set a blaze. Broken glass, debris, destroyed systems, they littered throughout the almost annihilated rooms. It was all so sudden, it was all coming out of nowhere. Out side of the barely standing balcony, stood a man with a satisfied grin on his face. He used be a benevolent being when first introduced to the world, however, years of isolation, massacres, and genocides transformed him inside out.

He lusts only for destruction, only for chaos. Those are the only two things he ever saw ever since he had to leave.

"Such a shame. That CPU was no CPU at all. Sloth and laziness must've taken over her skill..." he coldly said as he looked back at the growing inferno. "You're the only real thing in this world," he spoke softly as he inspected his pistol. Red and black in a luscious glossy finish, the bullets that it spat out exploded in destruction as it made contact with whomever was unlucky enough to face it.

"Hmmm?" The man started to hear tired rough steps coming towards him. Only did he turn his head to find a vengeful candidate standing before him, saber sword in hand.

"W-Who are you?! Tell me who you are!" she ordered in fury as she pointed the tip of her weapon toward the back of the man. The man did not turn around, but merely gave a sigh.

"Who am I you ask? Why I'm simply a drifter," he replied as he put his hands on the railing.

"What did you do to my sister?!" she asked. It seems that rage has taken over poor Nepgear.

"What did I do? I merely shot her, is all." The man waved off like it was nothing at all. "Besides, I came here to visit my old home, never knew I would get such a hostile welcome."

"O-Old home? W-Wait did we meet before?"

"Meet? You can say that. I remember this place like it was yesterday," the man spoke before putting away his weapon.

"Remember like it was yesterday...?"

Nepgear whispered to herself. What could this man be talking about? Who was he? It wasn't anyone she had known. The voice, the appearance, he actions, none of those attributes match with people who she would know personally.

"That doesn't matter, who are you?!"

A pause was present between the two, only broken by the man giving off a light chuckle. Soon the man turned around, the face being the first thing Nepgear saw. An all too familiar face, plastered with an uncharacteristic smirk, it made the girl take a step back.

"No...NO!" she yelled in denial. "It c-can't be you! Not after this long!" she continued to yell as she shook her head to get rid of the thought.

"What Nepgear, can you not believe it? People change you know," he spoke slowly as he approached the girl.

"S-Stay back!" she shouted before getting ready to attack. "I don't know you anymore! You're not the man I once fell in love with! Y-You are just a monster!"

"A monster, why, I'm offended. Surely I mean something a lot worse to you. I had always been the same person."

"N-No! L-Lies! Get away from me!" The man continued to walk towards her.

"Come on Nepgear, you knew I had always been..."

"No!"

"The same old..."

"Stop!"

 **"Michael."**

* * *

"AHHH!" Nepgear screamed as she rose straight up from her bed. She just had an absurdly horrible dream, leaving her to be scared in the darkness of her room. "O-Oh, i-it was just a dream..." she muttered before worriedly looking around.

She suddenly heard a creak in the room.

"Eeek!" she squealed in surprise. Slowly lifting off the covers from her head, she only saw an open door in the darkness. "W-Who's there...?" she timidly asked while holding the blankets to her head.

The lights suddenly turned on in the room, revealing a drowsy Mikey holding a glass of water. He seemed to be surprised at the awoken CPU candidate.

"Nepgear, what are you doing up this late...?" he tiredly asked before approaching the bed.

"W-Well, I-I had a scary nightmare," she spoke before lowering the blankets. Mikey, putting the glass of water on the nearby table, proceeded to sit down on the bed.

"Nightmare? What was it about?" he asked before Nepgear sat next to him.

"I-It was about you..." she muttered before turning away. "Y-You looked so heartless and cruel in that dream...that I couldn't bear to look at you..." she spoke in a much lower volume.

"O-Oh, well no worries anymore right? I'm still the same Mikey you know right?" he spoke in a sudden cheery tone. "Besides, I would ne-" His words were interrupted by an abrupt hug.

"Never turn into someone like that..."

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Thanks for the support! Sorry if my updates were slower than usual. It should pick up in the following days! School recently has been pretty tough on me, so that might explain the slow times.**_

 _ **Anyways, enjoy your reading and have a beautiful time!**_

 ** _Update: Added an omake because it popped into my head again. Oops. Felt like writing some short dramatic-ish sort of thingie. Tell me what you think about the first and second omake!_**


	15. Surprisingly Slick Shooters

**Chapter 15: Surprisingly Slick Shooters**

* * *

 _I would never think to get taught by the girl who depicted a future about my "love" life. A tsundere with a gun, teaching me how to shoot._

 _Better not screw up..._

* * *

As I was looking at the figure in the distance, the thing started to run down the hill. I started to hear movements under me, reminding me that Nepgear was still here.

Stooping down, I gently shook the girl in an attempt to get her to wake. Some mutters and some whimpers were all I can hear from her, so maybe it was working. She soon started to get up, slowly opening her eyes in the process.

"W-Where are we..?" she spoke in an alert tone. She must've remembered about the situation earlier.

"Let's find out," I said before getting up, Nepgear doing the same. Oddly, the figure that was running earlier was nowhere to be found. Wonder where they went?

Behind us, ruffling can be heard in the bushes. Are we not alone yet? I don't want to see those vengeful dogoos again...

"C-Could it be those dogoos again?" I asked as I cautiously turned around. Nepgear instinctively backed away from the foliage, dragging me along with her.

"Stay away from there Mikey! We don't want to get blasted off again," she cautioned as she kept an eye on the bushes. "Who knows what those dogoos had sent us." Emerging from the bushes, a familiar looking dogoo came out, except it had no headband like the ones we fought before. It was one of those things with the smug look and apathetic smile.

"Oh crap! It's you!" I shouted as I backed away even more.

 **BANG**

A loud gunshot was heard, followed by a hole appearing right in front of the dogoo. Quickly realizing the danger it was in, it hurriedly bounces back into the forest. Who fired that shot? It seemed awfully close.

"These dogoos are really becoming a nuisance," commented a voice behind us. Turning around, it was revealed to me that Uni was the one responsible for the shot. "You guys should really watch yourselves," she commented with a smirk.

"W-What are you doing here? Where are we?" I asked as I was trying to figure out where that box put us.

"Near the forest in the outskirts of Lastation. What were you doing hanging around these forests?" she asked while putting her weapon away.

"We got here from going into a box," Nepgear said.

"Box? What kind of box gets you here?" Uni asked with an eyebrow raised. "A tele-box?"

"I guess. We got teleported inside that forest over there," I said as I patted the dirt off myself.

"That doesn't explain how you got out though," she commented before taking a look at the trees. "Unless..." she spoke in a quieter tone.

"Unless what?" Nepgear asked.

"Unless you waltzed into the dogoo territory."

"Dogoo territory?" she asked.

"It's a set of land waaaay deep into the forest. It's full of dangerous dogoos armed with weapons of all sorts from looting nearby dungeons. You must've got blown out," she explained.

"Wait, if they're dangerous, why doesn't anyone try to stop them?" I asked.

"They don't bother the folks here, so they usually leave them be. Besides, it would be a waste of time to fight them all the way in there."

"Well if so, w-where are we gonna go?" I asked as I clutched my stomach. I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast yet.

"Ooh, Mikey, you're still hungry right?" Nepgear pointed out. I slowly nodded. I really could go for a sandwich right now.

"Hungry? How about we go back to our place, see if we can get you something to eat?" Uni suggested before looking back.

"S-Sounds good, let's go!" I eagerly said before starting to walk.

* * *

To Mikey, entering the cities of Lastation was a new experience for him. After all, he's only been to the one purple themed continent in Gamindustri, he never thought the box would take him to another piece of land.

"So, Mikey hasn't seen Lastation yet huh?" Uni asked as her and Nepgear were walking side by side. Mikey was up ahead, taking quick glances at the sides of the city.

"I guess, I figured since he just got to this world, he would only see Planeptune for most of his time here," she said as he looked ahead.

"Is that so? No wonder you've got so close to Mikey," inferred Uni.

"S-So close? I-I wouldn't say that..." she said with a now bashful smile. "He just, makes me feel happier when I'm around him, n-nothing about being close or anything!" she quickly spoke to try to deny it. Uni gave off a teasing smile.

"So he makes you happier? Sounds like you really like hi-"

"Let's just keep on walking!"

* * *

"Noire! I'm back, and I brought some friends!" announced Uni as she opened the front doors to the Basilicom. The design seemed to go with the same theme as the city. Some gritty, steampunk-ish theme was what I could make of it. The interior of the Basilicom seemed similar to the one in Planeptune with meeting tables and stacked papers being the norm in the reception area. Noire happened to be sitting at one of those desks, working on the laptop getting some work done.

"Just a moment Uni," she spoke before looking up and at us. "Oh, Nepgear and Mikey, what brings you here?"

"They've decided to come to Lastation for a visit. It's the first time for Mikey here," said Uni as we walked in. "I just showed them around."

Noire began to close her laptop while standing up. A proud and confident smile soon appeared on her face.

"If so, then... Welcome to Lastation! I am Goddess Noire, CPU of this fine land," she said in a grand-sounding voice. Uni just rolled her eyes.

"We already know what this place is sis," Uni said.

"I bet the folks at Planeptune didn't give him an introduction like this, so let me continue!" replied Noire. She looked at the clock on the wall. "Oh wait, it's almost time for combat training. Let's just skip the introductions and move on to that. Care to join us you two?" suggested Noire as she prepared to go out. Combat training? That did not sound good to me.

"Join you in combat? I don't thi-"

"They'd be glad to join you," Uni said as she looked at me with a grin.

* * *

Out in the grassy fields near the Basilicom, everyone here was getting ready to train. Despite my past objections, Nepgear somehow convinced me to go along with it. Apparently Uni was tasked to teach me something about firearm usage. She was showing me all her guns, which gave me the urge to really want to shoot one.

"You see this Mikey?" she asked as she held out a long gun. "This is a sniper rifle."

"A sniper rifle, ehh, never fired those before," I said as I glanced ahead of me. It seems that there were some makeshift targets in the distance. Some planks and some boxes, with a bullseye drawn on it. They don't seem to be too good at standing up by itself.

"You've played those shooter games before right? It's just as easy as that," she said before turning around and firing at one of the targets. One of the boxes soon fell down, signaling a hit. She then threw me the rifle, forcing me to catch it awkwardly.

"Hey! What was that for?!" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"It's your turn to try. You said you were a ranged person right, maybe this is natural to you."

"Natural to me? Well, I guess I can give it a shot," I said before holding the sights to my eye. I slowly aimed in at the target, and I try to do all the things you'd expect me to do in a FPS. You know, holding your breath, zooming in, hoping your shot would go straight. Closing my eyes, I pulled the trigger.

 **BANG**

An uncomfortable kick came back on my shoulder. I guess recoil is a problem too. When I looked at the targets again, I noticed that one more target had fallen down. Had I hit it?

"Wow, I'm so good my skill is rubbing off on you already," said Uni. "Just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, I want you to try again."

"Try again, seriously?" I asked before taking aim at the next target. Using the same tactics, I ended up pulling the trigger with my eyes closed again.

 **BANG**

My shoulder was starting to get sore, opening my eyes up, I was surprised to see another target fall onto the grass. Lightning does strike twice.

"You managed to hit another one? I gotta say, you're starting to look like a natural Mikey," stated Uni.

"Ha! I guess you're right!" I said as I put on an awkward smile.

"Hey guys, what're you doing?" asked a voice from behind. Turning around it was Nepgear, who happened to look a bit fatigued.

"Oh I was just showing Mikey some rifles," Uni said. "How was the training?"

"Tiring," she said as she started to lean on my shoulder. "My arms were getting kind of sore from executing on my moves.

"Is that so, how about we get a break then?" I suggested.

"That sounds good, anyone got any pocket food?" asked Uni.

"Oh! I have these in my pocket," she said as she pulled out two pudding cups as well as some plastic spoons. "We can share these!"

"Yoink!" Uni said as she snatched one of spoons and one of the pudding cups. "Guess you two have to share then," she said before ripping the top open.

"Well, good thing I bought three spoons then," Nepgear said before opening our pudding cup. She handed me a spoon, before starting to eat the pudding. I saw the girl eyeing my empty spoon. When I slowly scooped up a spoonful, she stopped what she was doing and took a look at my mouth.

"Hmm? What are you doing?" I asked as the girl had finished swallowing her spoonful of pudding.

"Mikey say ahh," she said before holding up another spoonful of pudding.

"Wait what, wh-MM!" I felt a cold spoon enter my mouth along with a cold sweet treat. It was not long before she pulled the spoon out, but I still was surprised. "H-Hey!" I stuttered as I swallowed the pudding. She gave off a giggle at my reaction.

 **BONK**

"OUCH!" I yelped as rubbed my head. It felt like someone just threw a tiny rock at me. "W-Who did that?"

"Did what?" asked Nepgear before noticing the rock. "Wait, where did this come from?" she asked before picking it up. On the far left side of us, bushes and various types of foliage began to ruffle and sway tremendously. When I took a closer look at it, I swear I could see a bunch of short things going through it. What are those? As I got up and quickly approached the foliage, I could make out hues of blue and red.

 **SPLAT**

A sudden blue blob jumped at my sight, quickly rendering me blind and knocking me down. The slime, the weight, oh wait, I knew what this was.

"AHH! DOGOO!" I yelled before trying to yank the dogoo off of my face.

"Mikey!" I heard Nepgear yell. A few moments later the dogoo was knocked off, letting me be able to see. As I got up, I saw Nepgear and Uni near me, weapons in hand. The dogoo that was knocked off retreated back into the bushes.

"Well, that was weird," Uni commented before inspecting the bushes. "Monsters aren't ever supposed to be here."

"T-Then why was there a dogoo there?" Nepgear asked before cautiously backing away. Out from one of the trees, a dogoo popped out and landed on the ground right in front of us.

"Hmph," it grunted as it narrowed its eyes. It was the leader of those dogoos from back in the forest. Its medals, its black bandana, its expression yelling for vengeance. It was all there, compressed into its compact slime body.

"O-Oh no, it's that thing again!" Nepgear said with terror. "That's the dogoo that had us blasted!"

"Really?" Uni asked before lifting up her rifle. "Then if that's the case, this bad boy's going down!" she proclaimed before locking the dogoo in her sights.

"Human!" it called out. "It would be unwise to harm me," it continued on before facing the back of the bushes. From the little holes between the leaves, I could make out little white lights.

"W-What are you doing here?" Nepgear asked before preparing to attack.

"Yeah! What's your business here huh?" Uni asked as she put her rifle over her shoulder. The dogoo didn't respond, but what it did, was it merely turned around. Instead of seeing a grim expression, he had that smile that I've seen on all the other dogoos.

"Our business? You'll find out," it whispered. A pause soon took over the conversation, but it didn't last long.

" _Kill them_ ," it ordered coldly.

 **HU-RAAAAAAAH!**

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Congratulations on everyone helping this story reach about seven thousand views! Recent tests and projects had made me pretty occupied, which explains why I haven't been updating much. Hopefully this clears us soon, so that everything can resume as usual. Make sure to leave a review and have a great time reading!**_


	16. Hostile Haughty Hospitality

**Chapter 16: Hostile Haughty Hospitality**

* * *

 _It goes without saying, anything is powerful when it comes in groups. Say for a dogoo, a weak and fragile being when it is alone and individually. But, give it a group and a powerful leader, now they pose as an incredible threat._

 _Too bad their tactics suck._

* * *

After the incredible roar given off by the dogoos, we soon blasted off. We didn't want to go through a lead hailstorm again. With an urgency at hand, we didn't even take the elegant way of going through a door.

 **CRASH**

"Really?! A window?!" I asked as we all jumped through to quickly get inside.

"Hey, better than standing out there!" replied Uni before taking a look back at the approaching horde. "Now come on! Flip those tables! Get cover!" she ordered before starting to flip some furniture towards the dogoos. While looking at the surrounding area, a voice called out to me.

"Come on Mikey!" Uni signaled for me to come over. Her and Nepgear were trying to flip over the giant meeting table. With a little more effort and push from yours truly, we managed to get ourselves a pretty robust piece of cover. It wasn't long before we were all hiding behind it, ready to fend off the assaulters. Bouncing sounds and sloshing were heard coming through the opening. I tried to get a peek, but a bullet quickly zoomed past my hair. Needless to say, I didn't peek for long.

"So, what are we going to do?!" I asked as I frantically looked around. "They're trying to surround u-OOMPH!" A pistol was thrown to my chest.

"Quit yapping and get killing Mikey! This is what we're going to do," Uni said before gripping her rifle. Suddenly, she popped out above the table and started firing at the dogoos. When I looked over again, Nepgear seemed to also join her.

 **SPLATTER**

Instead of sloshing dominating the silence, a splattering noise soon rose in the area. Blue goo and bandanas were popping and exploding all around us.

"Come on Mikey, join us!" she urged.

"What?! Join you guys and fight? That's insa-AHH!" I yelped as I was suddenly hit with a random cube-shaped object. It was a box with a digital timer, counting down from five. "BOMB!" I yelled as I grabbed the pistol and ran away from the impending explosion. With all of them hearing my warning, Nepgear and Uni followed suit, sprinting away from the soon-to-be destructive box.

 **BEEP**

 **BEEP**

 **BEEP**

"Quick! Don't let those fools get away!" a dogoo yelled. But it was too late.

 **BOOOOM**

Out from behind us a fiery inferno sprouted out from behind the table, engulfing the surrounding dogoos in a blaze of fire. Luckily all of this terrible chaos was a good distance away from us.

"I-Is that all of them?" Nepgear looked back as we continued to retreat. "Are they all dead?"

"Let's hope so," Uni replied before we all arrived back outside to the field. Hard to think this probably lasted a couple of minutes. Inside and outside in a matter of moments. With that in mind it was still the dead of day, with flames burning and winds blowing providing the only ambience out here.

"Hmm, this field seems pretty clear," I commented.

"If the field's pretty clear, then what's that?" Nepgear asked as she pointed at the fire.

 **BONK**

* * *

"Hmm, do you hear something?" Noire asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Hear something? I hear everything!" replied Neptune before she ate a scoop of pudding. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. More importantly, shouldn't you be worrying about your land? Why did you even come here?" Noire asked the girl with a raised eyebrow.

"I came here because I needed help in finding lost people. Freaking Mikey and Nepgear disappeared without warning!"

"What, those two? They were just doing some training in the Basilicom. I thought you didn't come because you were probably dozing off or something," Noire joked before giving off a smirk.

"What?! They're at the Basilicom?!" Neptune asked before suddenly rising up from her seat. Noire, unsure of what Neptune was going to do next, inched a bit away from her.

"Yes...that's what I said," she spoke slowly. When she turned to look at the streets for one second, she already heard running down the opposite direction. Not wanting to be left alone, she soon got up, going on a running frenzy herself.

"Hey! Don't leave me!"

* * *

"M-Mikey, a-are you okay?" asked Nepgear as she helped me back up. One of those flying debris struck me right in the head. It happened to be a burning bar of soap.

"Y-Yeah..." I muttered before rubbing my soap-induced head injury. "Please tell me that all the dogoos are dead."

"Don't worry, that explosion took care of all of them, I'm sure of it," confirmed Uni. "Now it's just a matter of not getting yelled at for getting this place into an explosive mess."

 **THWOMP**

A burning blob of slime suddenly came out of the fire, making a heavy whomping sound as it landed on the grassy ground. It was flopping around,leaving a trail of blue goo in its place.

"Oh crap! One of them is still alive!" I said as I instinctively backed away. Pulling up the pistol I recently grabbed, I immediately fired upon the wounded dogoo.

 **BANG**

"WAH!" the dogoo yelped before exploding into a plethora of bits and pieces.

"Hey, that's a nice shot," commented Uni before she noticed something else in the distance. "What the...is that Neptune...?"

"Neptune? Neptune's here?" Nepgear perked up all of a sudden, eager to find her approaching sister. It wasn't long before quick rapid footsteps took over my distant hearing. Looking over, I saw Neptune, sprinting energetically at a fast pace.

"Wait for me guys!" she yelled out. "I wanna see what you did here!"

"Wait, if Neptune's here then doesn't that mean..."

Uni took a nervous gulp.

"D-Don't worry, I can explain this!" she reassured with an unsure smile. "Anyone can believe that dogoos bombed the place right?"

"I guess..." I replied before seeing Neptune jump and bearhug Nepgear. Following behind Neptune, came Noire who happened to be just appalled at what occurred here. She had a shocked but also angry expression on her face.

"Oh Noire, you're back..." I slowly said before backing away from the exploded site. "If you were worrying about the smoke from over there, then-"

"What happened here?!" she suddenly bursted out at me as she pointed to the ongoing fire.

"There were dogoos and bombs I swear! They attacked us when you were gone!" She probably thought I was insane.

"He's right sis, there was a group of dogoo that tried to kill us. They had firearms and explosives," Uni spoke while pointing to the various blue splatters scattered over the grass.

"Yeah, they seemed to be really angry at us for some reason," Nepgear added. With all that coming to mind, the big tsundere took a deep sigh while looking at us. Neptune, didn't seem to catch on what was going on around here.

"So, we got attacked, is that how it is?" Noire asked with a slight anger in her voice. All of us nodded in unison. "Then..."

"Then what?"

"Then you guys are going to help me clean up this mess!"

* * *

"And there, that's all the shrapnel and ash swept up," Uni said before wiping her forehead. She was recently tasked with the duty of making the area not seem like a blackened wasteland. Looking back at the destruction, it seemed that Mikey and Nepgear did a good job into restoring most of the window. "Where are they now?"

Just then, Nepgear and Mikey came out from a nearby door holding some construction tools.

"Can't believe you guys have spare windows," Mikey commented as he gazed at the glass-less window. There was a piece of shaped glass leaning on the wall next to it.

"I know right? Maybe these type of things happen frequently around here. Now come on, help me mount this window onto here."

"Hah! Lame," Uni scoffed as she threw away her broom. "You guys are still doing stuff?" Mikey suddenly looked up at her, wanting to retort back.

"Well then if we're lame, what are you doing?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about going back into that forest you two came from earlier," Uni replied in an nonchalant manner.

"What?! That's insane! You know what those things are capable of!"

"Yes, I do know, and that's why I believe it's a good idea to go back in there. Come on, treasures and loot await us!" Uni urged.

"Is your sister ok with this?" Nepgear asked.

"Well, since Noire knows that the dogoos were behind this mess, I'm pretty sure she would appreciate us taking care of a few of them in the forests."

"I don't know Uni, I didn't want to get blown up by those damn dogoos again," Mikey said.

"That's cause you guys didn't have me! Come on, we go in there, shoot some dogoos, and we can recover some nice rare loot. They have to get all their equipment from somewhere right?"

"B-But I don't wa-AH!"

And that's when Mikey realized, he didn't have a choice. Definitely not when Uni's there.

* * *

"I still think this a terrible idea!" I loudly whispered as we were all trudging through the forest. Uni wanted all of us to talk in whispers so we don't get caught. "I don't even know how you two keep dragging me into this!"

"Well you're a part of this so quiet down!" Uni hushed as she peered over some tall grass. "Unlike last time, we're just going to sneak past those dumb dumb dogoos. Piece of cake."

"Oooh, I want to look too," Nepgear said before rising a few inches up from the ground. "Wow, why are there so many dogoos guarding that cave over there?"

"They must be guarding something important. Mikey you go and distract them!" she said with an expectant look.

"Hell no that's suicide!"

"Fine...we'll just sneak past through then. Follow me." All of us soon began to make our way through the foliage slowly and carefully in order to not raise any suspicion. It was surprisingly easy, when I look back at how we got blown up last time in hindsight, I must've been loud as hell for them to hear me. The entrance of the poorly lit cave was getting closer and closer. Unfortunately, the number of dogoos seemed to have increased the more near we got.

"They're covering the whole entrance, how the hell are we supposed to get in now?" I whispered loudly.

"Don't worry moody Mikey, I have an idea," Uni replied before grabbing a mossy rock nearby. She soon lobbed it a great distance away from us making a hard clacking sound on the other side of the forest area. With the audible noise emanating throughout the location, the dogoos soon took notice and started to converge on the source of the sound. With the entrance practically clear, we all rushed in.

First thing we saw was a giant stone stairway leading downwards. After briskly going down, we were greeted by a room with a medal door on each wall. Each door had a little window on it allowing the user to have a good look inside.

"I did not recall these dogoos being so...elaborate," Uni commented as she took a look through one of the doors. "It seems that this room is where they keep their loot and arms."

 _"I SWEAR TO YOU THAT IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" yelled out a deep voice from one of the doors._

"W-What the?! What the heck was that?" Nepgear asked as she caught off guard by the roaring voice.

"It's coming from that middle door..." I pointed out. "What is it?"

 _"Oh really now? Not your fault? With that outburst? Sometimes I wonder about the people who put you up to this position," replied another voice._

"Only one way to find out," Uni said.

* * *

With the three crowding around the tiny window on the medal door, it is revealed to them that it happened to be a meeting room of the dogoos. There were six dogoos situated at each part of the table, where each dogoo had some sort of military-style decoration worn on their body.

"It's not my fault those dogoos weren't trained enough! You literally said to me yesterday that we needed to get back at those intruders," retorted the deep sounding dogoo from earlier.

"Well even with the loss, did you get back at them?" asked a doubtful sounding dogoo.

"Of course not! We weren't prepared to assault those type of people!"

"Even with that in mind, I'm still curious on how you put the motivator in control of the squadron. You know you had several other more qualified officers right?"

"You recall, the dogoo that claims he's the general, but is merely just a figurehead? Reports shown he was K.I.A. along with several other soldiers. It seems that you have a knack form of doing your job correctly."

"Well..." The dogoo being accused of incompetence noticed three unfamiliar people peering through the window of the medal door. "Well...you're incompetent for noticing this!" Quickly pulling out a pistol, the dogoo used its body to take aim at the spectators. The other dogoos quickly noticed, where soon they find that they were being watched.

 **BANG**

 **CRASH**

* * *

 **Omake 3: Frosty Surprise**

Mikey was just in the kitchen, where he happened to be in the middle of baking something. He was hungry, and the first thing that came to his mind was a chocolate cake. Back home, he used to bake frequently, so doing this now was a simple task for him.

"I'm definitely going to enjoy this!" he commented as he took out the freshly baked chocolate cake. It was 350 degrees of pure happiness for the eager boy. His mouth was already watering from the thought of eating his creation. Carefully placing his unfrosted beauty on the table, he went back into the kitchen to get his final ingredients.

As he was finding his stuff, the cake attracted the eye of a certain candidate that was just walking by. A candidate that wasn't fond of who could've made this treat she saw in front of her eyes. She knew one thing, that her sister was far too lazy to bake something herself.

That's when she saw Mikey, walking out of the kitchen with frosting containers in each hand. He was humming a tune, while sporting on a chef's head and an apron with "Kiss the Cook" shown on the front of it. Mikey didn't notice Nepgear until he was about to frost the cake. When he looked up at the end of the table, he saw Nepgear giving him a warm smile.

"N-Nepgear! What are you doing here?" Mikey asked in a surprised tone as he put down the frosting.

"O-Oh, I just saw this unfrosted cake on the table and I wanted to find out who baked it," she replied as she was inspecting Mikey's apron. "I didn't know that you bake. Can I help?"

"Sure you can help! Just grab one and help me frost the sides."

"Okay!"

* * *

It only took them a couple of long minutes before they were done. A chocolate cake topped with creamy chocolate frosting served as a greater reason for the both of them to be hungry.

"Finally, that didn't take so long," Mikey commented as he sat down. "Thanks for helping me Nepgear."

"Oh it was no problem really! I just wanted to help my chef out," she said sitting down next to Mikey. That's when she realized that she was hungry. Noticing the knife on the table, and Mikey's unfocused look on her, it gave her an idea.

Mikey was apparently pretty tired, so he decided to close his eyes for a bit. That's when he felt a sudden peck on his cheek. Immediately waking up, he was greeted by a joyful Nepgear serving him a slice of cake. Not knowing what to do, he immediately grew red.

"W-Woah! D-Did you just-"

"Yup! I was just doing what the apron said!" she giggled as Mikey became more flustered and confused. He never knew that she would take the saying literally.

"B-But-But..." he stuttered before getting silenced from a warm hug.

"But nothing! Let's eat some cake Mikey!"

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Belated Thanksgivings to you all! Thanks for being patient these past weeks, but they're finally here! Overall, enjoy your reading, leave something cool like a fav, and have a great day!**_

 ** _Reached 8888 views! Congrats on all of us! Yes yes, I know, these milestones seem a bit weird and arbitrary, but there's a sort of pattern don't worry!_**

 _ **Update: Omake #3 added tell me what you guys think..**_


	17. Risky Ridiculous Rewards

**Chapter 17: Risky Ridiculous Rewards**

* * *

 _Risk. A concept of life that I just don't like._

 _It assures you that even if you are certain nothing's going to go wrong, something's going to go wrong. Then again, most of the time, nothing goes wrong._

 _Let's just keep it that way..._

* * *

"WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!" I frantically asked as we hurriedly made our way up through the rough stairs. Angry plopping sounds can be heard from behind, signaling us that they were still on our track. Upon arriving at the entrance at the cave again, we realized that the dogoos from before were back at their guard positions.

Their straight forward gaze and unmoving stature suggested that they hadn't detected our presence. With Uni quickly looking around, she noticed something in the darkness of the dimly lit cave.

"Look! There's a big pile of rubble there!" she pointed out.

"What are we going to hide in it?" I sarcastically asked. Instead of a verbal response, the two girls both ran over to the rubble. "What?! Wait!" I said before running after them.

When I quickly hoped over the rough rocks, I noticed Uni had some of her own stones.

"What are those fo-"

"Shhhh!" she shushed while putting on a devilish expression. "They're coming!" she whispered. That's when a dogoo popped out from the hole in the rocky floor. It was followed by several more, popping out from the same location.

A particularly adorned dogoo stood out to me when I continued looking. It seems pretty similar to the other leaders we saw before.

"Drat, nowhere to be found," it said while releasing a hot breath of air. "Sometimes a man can't get no rest these days..."

"S-Sir, what are we going to do now?"

"Simple. JUST SMASH EVERYTHING IN HERE!" it shouted out before violently smashing a nearby wall with its body.

 **SMASH**

Under the sheer force on the now hot headed dogoo, the wall quickly crumbled into the cold hard ground. It seems to me that not only do these creatures possess valuable loot, but also possess amazing strength.

"Did you see that?!" Nepgear yelped as she witnessed the monstrous power of the dogoos. "What are we going to do now?!"

"Simple," Uni spoke before looking up at the ceiling. She only looked for a brief period before chucking the rock she had in her hand.

"Uhh, what did you just do?" I asked as I heard the rock hit against something. All the black haired girl did was just point towards the group of surveying dogoos.

 **CRASH**

Suddenly, a giant group of rocks from the sky crashed down onto the unsuspecting group, where slimy puddles were now protruding from underneath the rocks.

"WOAH! What the?!" I shouted in surprise.

"Ha! Told you it would be simple!" Uni said with a smirk on her face. "Now let's get lootin'!"

* * *

Without the dogoos harassing us, we managed to get into the storage room with ease. The door happened to be unlocked, and when we got in, the room was extremely dim. I wasn't sure what Uni was talking about since I couldn't see anything in here.

"What's with the darkness in here?" Nepgear commented as she looked around.

"It must be the lights are off, somebody find a switch," Uni said before looking along the stone walls. Trying to find the switch myself, I noticed a little chain hanging a bit above the doorway. Being the light demanding person I was, I quickly pulled the chain straight down.

 **CLICK**

The moment I pulled it down, all the lights in the room immediately turned on, illuminating the whole storage facility. Everything could be seen around here: weapons, gold, food, and gadgets. The only thing that really caught my eye were the odd and strange looking trinkets off to the side.

"O-O-Oh my..." Uni stuttered as she slowly approached the complicated weapon cases. "This is a dream come true!" she exclaimed.

"Geez really?" I asked.

"Yes! And oh look! I-Is that an exotic curry collection?! I must go check that later!" The girl seemed ecstatic. Looking at Nepgear, her expression didn't seem different. Instead of weapons entrancing the candidate, it was the mechanical stuff thrown to the side that caught her attention.

"O-Oh my, I've never seen those parts before!" Nepgear spoke with a shine in her eyes. It seemed she was in a trance too.

I felt like since the two girls were preoccupied with exploring the stuff here, that I should go search around too. Heading over to a nearby stash of items, I started to pick stuff up, inspecting it before putting it back.

"Hmph, this looks familiar..." I commented as I took a look at a ball contraception. It seemed to have to be red on top and white on the bottom with a button in the middle. Another item I saw was a brightly colored mushroom.

"What's this? It's just a button," I spoke as I picked up a remote with a single red button on it. Underneath it was a digital display that had the number 30 on it.

"Mikey, what is that?" a voice asked behind me. Looking to my shoulder to find Nepgear there, it seemed that she had taken an interest to the mysterious device.

"I'm not too sure..." I spoke as I held the device closer for her to see. "Maybe it triggers something? Let's push it to find out!" I spoke in a now eager tone.

"Uhm, are you sure that's a good idea Mikey?" Nepgear asked as she carefully peered out. "I don't want something crazy to happen to us like last time!"

"Relax! Nothing's gonna hap-AH!" I yelped as a heavy object suddenly landed right next to us. "Where the hell did that come from?!"

"It came from up there!" Nepgear pointed out. Looking up, there were numerous rafters strewn from wall to wall, each segment loosely holding up a container. Why do these dogoos store their stuff up there?

 **CRASH**

"Ah!" Nepgear yelped as I felt her grab onto my arm. "A-Another box fell!"

As I looked around, I saw another box eerily peering over Uni. That's when I realized...

"UNI WATCH OUT!"

 **CRASH**

* * *

"Welcome back guys, how was the excursion?" Noire asked the three as they sluggishly went through the door. Seeing the current conditions of Uni and Mikey, she grew weary and unsure about where they went. All she noticed was Mikey carrying a filled up sack behind his back.

"F-Fun...we looted so much stuff from there..." Mikey slowly spoke before sitting down on he ground. He seemed to have a bruise on his forehead.

"Y-Yeah, I can't wait to show you what we got from there!" Uni spoke in a slightly chipper tone, masking the fact that she was also tired. Before long, Mikey was lying flat on the ground, the end of the sack still in his hand.

"What's with Mikey there?" Noire asked as she saw Nepgear help the exhausted boy back up.

"Well he's just tired, that's all," Uni commented as she rubbed her forehead.

"What's with the bruise on you and Mikey though?" Noire continued to ask.

"Oh, this? We got hit by falling boxes while exploring!" Uni gave off a smile before rushing to help Mikey too.

"Oh Noire, have you seen Neptune around here?" Nepgear asked.

"Neptune? She's in the kitchen trying to make her own pudding. Doubt she can make anything though," Noire replied with a slight smirk.

"Oh ok. Come on Uni, let's get this man to bed!" Nepgear said before signaling Uni to move. After a second, Nepgear and Uni were soon dragging the half-asleep Mikey deeper into the Basilicom.

 **CRASH**

"Ahh! Pudding isn't supposed to do that!"

"NEPTUNE! You better not be destroying anything in there!" Noire yelled at the distant pudding chef.

* * *

"Annnd there! We finally got him on the bed. He was a lot lighter than I thought," Uni commented before yawning herself.

"Well, two people make the job easier!" Nepgear said before noticing a reddish-purplish spot on Mikey's forehead. "Oh my, the trauma from earlier has given him a bruise." She then looked at Uni's forehead. "It seems to have happened to you too."

"Yeah so? I feel just fine!" Uni said with a glaring smile.

"Well I'm getting you guys some ice packs, we have to reduce that redness of yours!" Nepgear said before suddenly getting up.

"Redness? What redness?" Uni questioned before starting to feel around her forehead. "Oww..." she groaned as she felt a slight pain when she touched a particular spot.

"Exactly," Nepgear commented before going out the door.

* * *

Quickly walking out the hallway, Nepgear soon made her way toward the kitchen. In there, she saw her sister, donning on a particularly odd expression. Her face seemed to be covered in soot. She happened to be looking at a bowl.

"Sis, what are you doing?" Nepgear questioned before peering over her shoulder.

"Trying to perfect the secret formula for perfect pudding. I just recently saw one of my prototypes turn into an explosive failure," she said in a serious manner. "But whatever! So, what're you doing here little sis?" she now asked in her usual carefree tone.

"Getting some ice for Mikey and Uni. They got some pretty bad bruises, so I'm getting ice to make it go away," she said before opening up the fridge.

"Oh really? Since when did you become the new doctor?" Neptune jokingly asked.

"When I started to know them. You know how I took care of you when you were sick right? Same thing with them," Nepgear said before grabbing some bags and a towel. Soon she headed back to the room where her patients were.

"Welp, with Nep comes progress! Let the experimentation continue!" Neptune declared.

"Not so fast Neptune!"

"Wha?!" Neptune turned to face the source of the voice, only to find a not-so-calm Noire in front of her.

"Would you mind telling me where all the bowls went?"

"T-The bowls? What are you talking about Noire?" Neptune asked with an innocent face.

"I'm talking about the bowls where I use to cook! It's almost dinner time you know," Noire said as she observed the work that Neptune had done. It happened to be her bowls, each of them filled with a different type of mixture that resembled pudding.

"Whaaaat? Can't we have some pudding for dinner?"

* * *

"Guys I'm back with the ice!" Nepgear announced as she opened the door. She was greeted by two people fighting each other in a game of checkers.

"And BAM! You're finished!" Uni announced as she slammed a red piece on the checkerboard. She was playing Mikey, who happened to be wide awake.

"What?! How can this be?! Uni, n-no way!" Mikey said as he looked at he board.

"Ha! Look and weep! Now you have to do what I say for one day!" the winner boasted.

"W-What?! There was a bet to his?" Mikey asked suddenly confused. "Wait a second, you didn't say anything when we started!"

"Yes I did, you must've forgot," Uni said before realizing Nepgear came back. "Oh Gear you're back! I was just owning Mikey here in a little game of checkers."

"Oh really now? You guys play checkers? Well anyways, here you go, this should reduce that bruise of yours Uni." She was soon handed an ice pack.

"You must've cheated..." Mikey grumbled as he rubbed his forehead once more. As he was looking around, he noticed Nepgear was standing near him, ice packs in hand.

"H-Here Mikey, have this ice pack. It'll reduce the pain," Nepgear said as she handed the ice to him.

"Oh thanks Nepgear!" Mikey said before putting the ice pack to his head. With a now slightly relieved expression, he closed his eyes for a little bit. Out of the blue, he felt a slight ticklish sensation. "Hmm?"

Mikey only heard a slight giggle before he suddenly faced a tremendous urge to laugh. He realized one thing however, he was getting tickled. Biting his lip to contain the laughter, he prepared to face his culprit.

"W-Wha-Wha-What the?!" he choked out before looking back behind him. The only place where he's most vulnerable was the area slightly above his hips. "N-Nepgear? W-What are you doing?" The girl seemed to have a mischievous smile going on.

"They say laughter's the best medicine so I'm giving it a try!" she giggled before proceeding to escalate the intensity of the tickles. Uni was just sitting there, giving off a heavy grin.

"B-B-But, I-I need to rest Nepgear!" Mikey quickly said before feigning fatigue. It wasn't convincing the girl however. "S-Stop it! I c-can't take this!" he said while having bits of laughter escape between his stuttered words.

"This is what you get for losing~" Uni commented with a cocky smirk.

"H-Hey! This isn't funny! This is just-"

"Fun!" Nepgear finished his sentence before managing to get Mikey onto the floor. With quick reflexes, the boy managed to cover up his vulnerable spots from her hands, making him immune to the tickles. With the laughter stopping and the tickling having no effect, Nepgear had to try something else.

"Ha! You can't do it now!" Mikey taunted.

"Aww, but it was so fun doing it to you..." Nepgear pouted.

"Well now you can't tickle me anymo-AH!" he yelped as he was interrupted by a tight hug.

"But I can do this!" she joyfully said as she tightened her grasp. With her arms around his neck, the distance between the two was small. Having her face so close to Mikey's, both of them started to blush with a light shade of red.

At first Mikey struggled, but after mere seconds, he already decided to stop.

"Oh what's the point? It's just impossible to resist you..." he sheepishly said before looking off to the side. After hearing what Mikey said, she couldn't help giving out a warm smile.

"Oh Mikey..." she spoke in a soothing tone. "Why are you always so shy with me?"

Mikey instantly looked back at Nepgear's face upon hearing the uttered question. It was strange to him that she would ever ask that. Looking around, he noticed that Uni was silently observing the whole ordeal take place.

"B-Because..."

She leaned in to hear his response better.

"B-Because I..." he stuttered as he looked into her.

"B-Because I...sort of...you know? I s-sort of like...you..." he stuttered once more, whispering his last two words.

"Hmm? I didn't hear the last part, could you repeat it again?"

"I sort of...like you Nepgear..." he shyly said, trying his best to get his gaze to wander off. He hadn't realized it yet, but he was redder than a tomato when he said that.

"O-Oh, you do? You really do?" she asked, wanting to hear what he said once again.

"Y-Yes, I...I really do."

"Really Mikey?" Her eyes grew with hope.

"Yes-AH!" he yelped as the hugging got tighter. "W-What are you doing now?!"

"Showing you that I like you too!" she giggled as she buried her head into his shirt. Mikey gave out a sigh, putting his arms over her. The warmth of their bodies started to spread between them, giving both of them a cozy feeling.

"So now you know, can you get off now, Nepgear?" he asked in a joking tone.

"No..." she replied in a muffled voice. "I wanna stay like this. I wanna stay with your warm self." All Mikey could see was her purple hair on his chest, which reminded him of a similar time.

Meanwhile, everything in the room was starting to get warm, even for Uni.

 _"One minute and they're already acting like a couple," she commented with a smirk._

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Before we say anything, just wanted to say Merry Christmas! I suppose I was early enough to say that, so have a great season! Likewise I hope guys have a fantastic next year. 2016 was odd, but 2017 has to be better right?**_

 _ **Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, have fun reading, and thanks for being patient with me!**_

 _ **Update: added something at end**_

 _ **We reached 30,000 words with a big 10,000 views! Thanks for all the support because this means another milestone we guys reached!**_


	18. Arbitrary Amazing Activities - Part 1

**Chapter 18: Arbitrary Amazing Activities - Part 1**

* * *

 _With most of the night still ahead of us, it would make sense to just go out and have some good old-fashioned fun._

 _With these people and their bonds, what would their definition of fun be? Hopefully similar to mine._

* * *

"Finally! What took you guys so long?" Neptune asked impatiently as Nepgear, Uni, and I briskly walked out the doors. It seems that Noire and Neptune were waiting outside for a little while.

"Well I had to drag Mikey out of my room since he was being so lazy!" Uni joked as I gave her an annoyed glance. "Anyway, the night is still young, why don't we head out into the city?" she suggested.

"Sure, that sounds fun!" Nepgear agreed.

"Count me in! Nepu Nepu makes everything fun!" Neptune excitedly said as she jumped up and down like a rabbit. Sometimes I wonder where all her energy comes from.

"Then it's settled, a night fun is what we are going to do tonight," Noire confirmed. "Just make sure we don't get carried away!" she spoke while looking at the bunny hopping Neptune.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" I announced before all of us started to walk together. It didn't take too much time for us to reach the city. As we strolled around the roads where buildings were on either side, I noticed a variety of colors gleaming brightly. For such a machine themed city, it sure appeared colorful during the night. Lights were just everywhere, making a normally dim night into a bright day.

"Like the lights Mikey?" Uni asked as she pointed out into the sky. Looking up into the sky, I only saw a darkness vacant of stars. It was typical for that to happen, since bright lights usually wash out the starlights in the sky. "We're going to have the chance to go see the stars, so make sure you're not too tired for that. Besides, I know that Nepgear would love to go stargazing with somebody," Uni teased as she gave me a grin.

"W-What? Why did you say that?" I suddenly asked.

"You know why! This is the perfect opportunity for you guys to bond!" she explained as I started look at Nepgear who was looking st the buildings on the side. "You do want to be with her, don't you?"

"Yeah I guess..." I sheepishly admitted. "Maybe I can give it a try right?"

"That's the spirit Mikey, now go get her!" Uni said before playfully pushing me towards Nepgear. Quickly losing my balance and not wanting to fall, I had to grab on to something desperately in order to save myself. I ended up hugging my arms around something in order to accomplish this.

"Eek! Mikey!" Nepgear yelped. When I got a better at what I was grabbing, I discovered I ended up hugging Nepgear right near her chest. "I-I never knew you'd be like that!" she joked as she began to blush.

"O-Oh sorry Nepgear!" I apologized as I immediately got off.

"It's okay Mikey, I don't mind," she said as she smiled at me.

"Hey look guys! There's a ramen shop!" Neptune announced as she excitedly ran towards the shop's windows.

"Yeah, we can all see that!" Noire commented as she noticed a particular flyer on the building. "Rocket fuel ramen?" she read out.

"Rocket fuel ramen? Isn't that the spicy challenge that's trending? I've always wanted to try it out for fun," Uni said.

"I would try it out if I knew what I was in for," Noire said.

"Pshh! Easy!" Neptune stated as she blew a raspberry. "So easy even Mikey and I could finish it in a split!"

"What?! Since when did I get involved?!" I asked as I got a look at the flyer. The skull and crossbones on it didn't make me feel better.

"Easy? Ha! I don't think you guys can make it one bite!" Noire giggled as she couldn't imagine Neptune handling the spicy spicy pain. I imagine I couldn't handle the pain either.

"Well can you?" Neptune skeptically asked.

"O-Of course I can!" Noire assured.

"Then prove it! Let's go do the challenge!"

* * *

Is wasn't long before the ramen was handed to us. Each of us sitting around the table, patiently trying to wait for the food that I really felt, was going to end us all. It even went up to the point where the CPUs managed to convince their sisters to give the ramen a try.

"Okay guys, here is your food. Good luck," the waiter said as he handed out the ramen to each of us before going off. Everyone said thanks and proceeded to get their chopsticks in position.

"Finally, the hunger's been killing me," Neptune commented as she lazily looked at her bowl.

"I'm pretty sure the ramen will kill us faster," Uni said as she didn't like how red the soup looked.

"I wonder why I'm doing this," I said as I nervously peered over my ramen.

"Maybe it's to prove you have guts Mikey," Noire joked as she stuck her chopsticks into her bowl. When I looked at Nepgear, the expression on her face just spoke horror. Everyone was quiet, waiting for one person to take the first bite in order to assess how spicy it is.

The irritable hot scent that each ramen gave off was palpable. Bubbling soup at the top and hellfire noodles on the bottom. Looking around the table, it seems that everyone was looking directly at me, expecting for me to do something.

"Uhm..." It was the only sound I can mutter in a situation like this. At first I thought eating first was a terrible and ridiculous idea, but the stomach can prove to be a mighty persuaded. In just seconds, my hunger rose by leaps and bounds. Just the symptoms of a big appetite, not an big tolerance. It was long before I curled up the noodles, where it was merely centimeters away from my mouth.

"Here I go!" I yelled out before thrusting the noodles into my mouth. Right when the noodles made contact with my tongue, I've realized I've made a grave mistake. Looking around the second time, everyone else also made that mistake too.

All the heat spread around my mouth like a wildfire, and I only ate a small percentage of the ramen. It was like eating noodles out of the damn sun.

"Agh! Who made this?!" Uni yelled out as she chewed her noodles in pain. "Who even thought this was a good idea?"

"T-This is w-way too hot!" Nepgear winced as she swallowed the noodles.

As a result of the unbearable ramen-induced pain, I started coughing as I felt my throat getting ignited. I thought only onions can make you cry, but I was sadly mistaken.

"See? Child's play," Noire confidently said as she slurped up some more noodles. She seemed to be perfectly unaffected by the spiciness, managing to hold onto a smug look as she observed Neptune savagely scarf down her bowl. Wish I could say the same for me and the others.

"Mmmm! Tasty like hot hot pudding!" Neptune remarked before slumping in her seat. Like Noire, she didn't seem affected at all by the meal.

"What the...h-how can she do that?" Nepgear was in awe about how capable her sister was at dealing with pain.

"I know right?" I added before looking into my own bowl. If these two can handle it, who's gonna say that I can't handle it too? Even with the deathly burning sensation still going on in my mouth, I managed to convince myself to give it another try.

 **NOM**

In my mouth, I chewed in anticipation for the next wave of unbearable suffering. Oddly enough, I didn't exactly feel anything when I was eating. Being the daring individual I always wanted to be, it just felt natural to just keep on eating.

"Uh Mikey, why are you turning red?" Uni pointed out with a worried look.

"What me? What are you talking about?" I cluelessly asked.

"Mikey, do you feel anything? You're seriously getting red right now!" Nepgear stood up as she got a closer look at my face.

"R-Really?" I worriedly asked. "Maybe I just need some water then..." Without looking, I grabbed a cup, which seemed to have heightened their awareness of me. As I drank the cup, they seemed to be looking around the tables. Strange how the drink I just drank didn't taste anything like water though.

"I-Is there something wrong guys?"

 **BAAAAAAAHHHH!**

* * *

"I did not know humans can turn into flamethrowers. I guess you learn something new everyday." Uni chuckled as she continued strolling alone near her sister. On the other side of her, Nepgear was helping Mikey recover from his recent incident. She accomplished this by giving him copious amounts of dairy to drink.

"Mikey, you feeling alright?" Nepgear asked.

"Y-Yup, never felt better than having a scorched desert for a mouth," he spoke in a raspy tone. "Never doing that again..."

"Hmph, it seems like Mikey couldn't handle the heat," Noire pointed out as she was strolling around with the always distracted Neptune.

"Seems like you couldn't either!" Neptune added.

"That's what you think my dear Nep, but we all know that's not true."

"W-What are we going to do now?" Nepgear asked.

"H-How about the arcade near here? Lastation got some of the best games here!" Uni suggested. With the uttering of the word arcade, Mikey's head instantly sprang up.

"Did somebody just say games?"

* * *

"Yes!" I yelled out as I snagged another plushy from the crane machine. My reward this time was a cute looking blue turtle.

"Good job Mikey! W-Wanna go over there and try out those games over there?" Nepgear asked.

"Sure! Let's go!" I eagerly replied before we both went over to where the rest of the gang was. Looking at the sides lined with flashy fun arcade games, I felt a slight tug on my arm.

"Mikey Mikey, c-can we play that?" Nepgear asked as she pointed to an interesting looking game. The thing that particularly stood out to me where the giant D-Pads on the floor, consisting of big foot-sized arrows going in four directions.

"That? Sure why not? I played this before," I said as we both promptly walked over to it. "Have you played this before?"

"Yup, tons of times! This is one of my favorite games," she answered before getting onto one of the arrow pads. "Why don't you come on and play with me? It's fun!" she urged.

"Sure, j-just make sure you teach me how to play!" I awkwardly laughed as I got onto the other giant D-pad on the ground. In front of both us, were computer screens that read NepNep Revolution. I guess these type of Nep games are pretty common.

"How do you play this?"

"All you do is just step onto the corresponding arrows on the screen. You do that when the arrows reach a certain point, which marked by the grayed out arrows on the top. It's just moving around and stuff, so it should be easy!"

"Oh okay, that sounds fun," I remarked. As I looked at Nepgear, she seemed to be scrolling through a list. Must've been some song list or something. "Oooh, they released a new song. Want to try it?" she asked.

"Sure."

After I saw her tapping on some stuff, a bright text suddenly appeared on my screen which read "Ready!" Seconds later, I can hear a song being played by the speakers, followed by the appearance of a first arrow. Knowing what to do, I promptly stepped on the corresponding space, causing me to get a "Marvelous!" message.

"Hmph, this does seem pretty easy..." I commented. The song happened to have a calm and slow tempo, with slow arrows that were easy to hit for me.

It went on like this for about a minute or so before the song became so quiet that it wasn't even audible anymore.

 _"What the..."_

For a good few seconds, no arrows were on the screen. That is, until I heard a growing beat. A little beat in the distance, that seemed to grow louder and faster until...

 **DROP THE BASS**

"What the?!" A sudden stream of arrows appeared all at once on my screen with the intensity of the music being far greater than in the beginning of the song.

It forced me to stretch my legs out, step rapidly, and hop randomly. The streak of arrows showed no signs of stopping, and instead, it was getting even faster.

"I-I can't keep up!" I desperately cried out as I stepped as fast as I could. Surprisingly my score was doing well, but I couldn't say the same for my rapidly depleting stamina.

"Come on Mikey, you can do it!" she said. It seems like she's not breaking a sweat from this. Wish I can say the same for me.

"Y-Yes, y-yes I c-can!" I uttered out in an attempt to keep myself going.

"Oh my Nep! Mikey watch out!" Nepgear yelled out. Not knowing what I was supposed to watch for, I cluelessly turned around.

 _"What th-OOOMPH!"_

* * *

 **Omake 4: Personal Doctors**

Ever since he woke up, Mikey wasn't feeling too well. Despite this, he still volunteered to help Nepgear get some materials for her workshop so she can work. During that time, she realized something was off, probably because of the unusual frequency of Mikey's sneezing.

 **AHCHOO!**

"Oh my Mikey, that's the fourth time in a row," commented a worried Nepgear. "Could it be you're coming down with something?"

"Whaaaat? No way!" Mikey reassured her as he wiped his nose with a tissue. "It's probably just my allergies, that's all."

"Oh okay, just tell me if you're not feeling well," Nepgear said before going back to working on one of her gadgets.

 **AHCHOO!**

Right after she said that, Mikey sneezed once again, causing Nepgear to look at him with a worried expression.

"I-It's okay, it's those allergies!" Mikey nonchalantly said as he tried to wipe out all the mucus coming out of his nose. He definitely knew he didn't have any allergies and on top of that, his symptoms were progressively getting worse.

"Mikey have you been feeling well?" Nepgear questioned as she stood up and got a closer look at the boy's face.

"Well I-AHCHOO!" He couldn't even get three words out before sneezing violently. Instinctively Nepgear put her hand up to Mikey's forehead in order to feel the temperature. The heat from his head stood out to her as a sign of a cold.

"Oh no Mikey, you have a fever! You need to get to bed asap!" Nepgear instructed the boy.

"You're right, l-lemme just get up then." Mikey slowly stood up, only to almost fall over. Nepgear quickly caught him before he fell.

"Oh geez, you can't really move can you?" Mikey slowly nodded. "We need to have you rest then. That way you can get better," Nepgear explained before carefully leading the boy into her bedroom. It wasn't long before Mikey was promptly tucked in by the caring girl.

"So, how do you feel so far Mikey?" she asked while trying to keep him as warm as possible.

"Not good I guess..." he uttered out as he turned in the bed. "Y-You know you don't have to do this right...? I-I mean it's okay, I can take care of myse-"

"Don't say that Mikey," Nepgear spoke after she shushed the sick boy. "I take care of you because I really want to take care of you. Now snuggle in and get some rest and I'll get you something to feel better afterwards," she said with a reassuring smile.

"O-Oh if that's the case, then...thank you! Nice to know I got amazing p-people like you," he said while putting on his best smile. Nepgear gave out a giggle while ruffling his hair.

"And I'm glad to know you," she said soothingly before walking out the door.

* * *

"Oh Nep Jr. where's Mikey at?" Neptune asked her sister that just came from the door. "He said he was going to play me in Smash Nep later!"

"Mikey's inside the room. He's sick Neptune! Can you watch him for me?" Nepgear worriedly asked.

"Sure sis, lemme get some stuff first," Neptune said before going off into the living room. Seconds later, she returned with two handheld consoles in her hand. "I'll make sure he's entertained," she said before heading into the room and closing the door behind her.

"Hmm, what is she going to do?" she asked herself curiously.

* * *

"Whaaat?" No games?" Neptune slowly asked as she put on a fake frown.

"Nah, I'm just too tired..." I tiredly said before almost dozing off.

"But have you heard about the new Nepmon game? They added tons of new stuff to it!" she excitedly said before opening her game device. A two screened game console in your own hands, a truly innovative invention of the millennium.

Nepmon huh? I've played that game once when I was just lazing about out with Neptune. That moment she showed that game, I was instantly hooked. Maybe the feeling of capturing stuff or fighting stuff is simply addicting, but nonetheless the mention of a new game like that has certainly caught my attention.

"N-Nepmon? A new game?" I curiously asked as I stood up in my bed to get a good look at the game. Better graphics, better interface, and most of all, better design. The designers in Planeptune really outdid themselves on this piece.

"Yup! Here!" she said before she lobbed one of those game players towards me. Even in my exhaustive state, I can still catch something. "Hurry up and get on! They added a coop mode to this!" she urged as I was loading the Nepmon game.

"Coop mode? I thought games were like this were exclusive to single player," I remarked as the Nepmon menu screen had just loaded. The interface was familiar, except for the addition with a new button the bottom of the screen.

 _It simply read: Coop._

Pressing the button brought me to a new screen. It was black with white text on top, which read: **LOOKING FOR SECOND DEVICE.**

"Neptune? This just says it's looking for another device," I pointed out as I showed her my screen.

"Ah! Witness the magic Mikey," Neptune announced before pressing both our devices together. In a couple of seconds, the screen changed into a button over a vibrant background resembling a sky. Another new button was present on this screen, but this time it had a different font to it.

 **PRESS A TO START COOP**

"What are ya waiting for Mikey? Press the button!"

* * *

It was about an hour since Nepgear left Neptune in charge, where she hasn't heard from her ever since. In that time though, she has whipped up a bowl of chicken soup, sliced with some stuff to give it that illness-fighting taste. When she came up to the closed door, she heard two voices conversing with each other. Curious to hear more, she lifted her ear to the door.

"Did you catch it Mikey?! Please tell me you did!"

"It ran away! This thing keeps freaking escaping my balls!"

"Oh wait! There it is again! Get it!"

It seems like the two were having a swell time in there.

"Neptune come on! Keep throwing the balls!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?! W-Wait..."

"Yes...?"

"I CAUGHT IT WOOOOO!" a large triumph about was heard on the other side of the door. It seemed just to be the perfect time to walk in on the two. Her entrance wasn't noticed by Mikey and Neptune, so she had the opportunity to really see what was going on. Neptune laying on Mikey's bed playing her game while Mikey himself was up in the bed playing on his game. It was apparent that he barely got any rest with her older sister in charge.

"Ahem." Nepgear cleared her throat, catching their now silent attention. Mikey and Neptune looked back at her with uneasy looks, realizing that Nepgear wanted Mikey to sleep so he can recover. Maybe playing a bunch of video games wasn't exactly beneficial to that goal.

Instead, it might have invoked the candidate's inner parent.

"Mikey, get to bed now!"

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: We almost reached twenty chapters! Just some few more to go! Thanks for the ongoing support, and remember to enjoy the reading! New year new me right?**_

 _ **What are you going to do for 2017? I certainly got some plans in mind :)**_

 _ **Update: Added omake because I had a new idea that popped into my head**_


	19. Arbitrary Amazing Activities - Part 2

**Chapter 19: Arbitrary Amazing Activities - Part 2**

* * *

 _Not many things can happen if you're busy all the time. Maybe that's the cas_ _e, since you don't really notice all the things that happen. You just need that moment, where you can smell your nonexistent roses, and see what the world is really like._

 _I don't smell roses however. Instead of smelling, I hear. I hear Nep. Nep Nep Nep Nep Nep Nep Nep-_

* * *

A giant mass of Neptune suddenly tackled me off of the dance pad and into the softish ground. My ass unfortunately, had to take most of the impact.

"OUCH!" I yelled out as I realized that Neptune just rammed into me. "W-What was that for?"

"Oh Neptune couldn't take the fact that she lost a game," Noire commented as she was observing the scene. "Running away from the problem just seemed to be the best choice for her."

"Lies! The main character always wins!" Neptune refuted before immediately getting back up. I followed suit.

"Then maybe I'm the main character!" Noire replied back with a smirk. Neptune realizing the implications, simply let out a loud pout.

"HIGH SCORE!"

"Yes! Finally!" Nepgear exclaimed before getting off the dance pad too. "Looks like I'm also a winner!" she said with a smile. "Ooh Uni, what's that in you're holding?"

"Oh this fluffy thing? It's a grand prize from the shooting gallery," Uni explained as she gave Nepgear a closer look. "I show no mercy to those wooden dogoos."

"Well, maybe it's only natural that they're saving the best for last. We must continue on with our night in order to find my prize!" Neptune proclaimed before running through the exit doors.

"Neptune wait!" Noire commanded before realizing that she was already out the door. "Oh what's the point," she remarked before running after her. Soon it was just Nepgear, Uni, and I.

"Well, you know the drill, follow the Neptune."

* * *

It seems that following Neptune has led us to a relatively secluded spot in the forests. Up above and hovering everywhere stood the stars, shining brightly through the absence of man-made light. Little white dots scattered across the black sky. It's as if somebody were to spill salt in space.

Neptune was just sitting on the grassy ground along with Noire and her sister. They were talking with each other and they seemed to be a bit far from us.

"Wow, this place is beautiful at night," Nepgear commented before laying down to get a good look at the sky. "Don't you wanna see the sky Mikey?"

"Yeah I guess," I said before looking off into the nearby trees.

"Why don't you join me then?" she said while patting an empty spot on the grass beside her. "The stars are shining brightly tonight." Not knowing what to do in this seemingly empty field, I shrugged, laying next to Nepgear.

Being in the grass was certainly a foreign feeling. We were both silent, patiently and quietly watching the stars. It was a nice contrast to the hectic action of fighting dogoos. Instead of the frequent explosions, there was just a rare silence.

"Mikey, it's chilly here..." Nepgear noted as she inched closer to me.

"Yeah I know, that's why I wear layers," I said as I adjusted my shirt. "They keep you cozy in the worst of weathers." She let out a small giggle while I could feel a slight poke.

"I can see why," she teased before turning her head. All I could make out from the dimness was just a smile. As Nepgear took another glance at the sky, she suddenly turned to me again, an enlightened expression on her face. "Mikey, I want to show you something."

"Show me something? Where?" I asked curiously.

"Up there, in the stars," Nepgear said while pointing up. As I looked up, all I saw was nothing but white dots. "Do you notice something?"

"Well, not really," I admitted as I tried to find something that stood out from the white dots in black space.

"Do you see that secluded spot, the area where not too many stars are?" she asked. Looking at the sky a little bit longer, I started to notice the little area where she was talking about. There were just a couple of stars there, which happened to be arranged to form a familiar looking shape.

"Yeah I see it."

"Now tell me Mikey, what does it look like to you?" As I squinted my eyes in an attempt to get a closer look at the stars, I started to notice a particular shape being formed by the stars. It was a heart.

"It looks like a heart to me."

"A heart you say? That's interesting, I happen to see the same thing as you."

"Oh really? I guess that is cool to find. Just saying though, stargazing really isn't my thing," I mentioned as I looked back into the cold leafy ground. You can say I'm a down-to-earth person.

"Hmm? Why not?"

"I, I just never really get the chance to find anything interesting or noteworthy ever. I was never a good observer or a good finder, so you can say that I get bored easily."

"Really? What do you mean when you say you're not a good finder?" she asked in an intrigued tone.

"I-I just have a hard time finding the important things in life," I sheepishly spoke. "Finding out the little things, the big things, you know that stuff."

"So, you just can't find the things that matter to you ? Is that it? Maybe, you just need somebody to help you find it," Nepgear suggested. "I bet that's one of the reasons why people have friends."

"Well, if that's the case, perhaps I should have somebody to help me. Somebody that I can trust and have fun with," I causally said.

"Do you think that somebody is somewhere in this area?" Nepgear asked curiously.

"Yeah, in fact, you can say that she's near me." I said before looking at her with a slight smile on my face. Even in the darkness, I can still see the evident blushing on her face.

"N-Near you? T-Then that means..."

"Want to help me find my way through life?" I asked as I could feel my smile grow bigger.

"W-Well, well..." she started as she suddenly sat up. It seems like she was a bit speechless at first. "S-Since you asked me that...then..." She then inched really close to me.

"Then, I'll do it!" she suddenly announced with a resolute expression. That proclamation was soon followed up by a big hug, which made me fall onto the leafy grass. "He he! Can you ever maintain your balance with me?"

"With you always with me, I don't think that's even possible!"

* * *

"Well would you look at that," Neptune spoke. "I think I see the real stars here."

"The real stars? What do you me-oh," Noire said before seeing what Neptune was seeing.

"Hey, what are you guys looking at?" Uni asked, eager to know. "Oh my, they look so cute together!" she excitedly said before getting really close to the two. With interest in their eyes, Noire and Neptune followed Uni to get a better look for themselves. Nepgear and Mikey didn't seem to notice the three looking over them. Instead they were just playing with each other in the grass, giggling and having fun. They sort of resemble kids playing.

"Even at this age, they still act so childish," Noire commented before shaking her head in disapproval. "But, you got to admit it's sorta cute."

"Looks like what I was saying to Mikey was right," Uni said with a smile. "Man, it sure is getting late."

"Don't worry, I can break up these two little lovers!" Neptune said before jumping into the grass with Nepgear and Mikey.

"AH! Neptune! Where did you come from?!" Mikey shrieked.

"Sister always comes out of nowhere!" Nepgear remarked.

"Get up you three, we're going back," Noire instructed.

"Aww really?" Neptune pouted. "Noire's always so meannnn..."

"Ha! Me being mean? Don't worry about that my dear Neptune. We are going to obviously play video games back in the Basilicom, where I'll beat you in every game there is! Now that's mean," Noire confidently said as Neptune sprung up at the mention of a game.

"You talk a big game, but can you really beat me?" Neptune indignantly asked.

"Of course I can, it's just the same thing over again! You challenge me and I simply best you," Noire explained.

"W-Well...Well, it looks like I'll have to find a game where it's impossible for you to win!"

"Impossible to win?" Mikey asked. "But don't all games have you win in the end?"

"Maybe it's one of those never ending games you always find in the arcade," Uni suggested.

"Or maybe it's one of those games that get updated frequently," Nepgear chimed in.

"Nope! It's not that sort of game. It's something that has substance, but it still doesn't have a defined winner," Neptune said. "Luckily, I'll be the first one to beat it!" she announced before quickly running off.

"Oh you did not just ditch me Neptune!" Noire yelled out before running after her crazy best friend. "Your pudding attitude's gonna be toast!"

* * *

"Ha! You're gonna be beat Noire! Check this out!" she yelled out before pulling up a ominous looking CD. The whole disk was black with white words seemingly scribbled onto it. It simply read Cry of Nep with a grotesque looking ghost on the side.

"Uh, what's this?" Noire asked incredulously.

"A horror game!" Neptune eagerly answered before putting the CD into the console. When she mentioned horror, I saw Noire's expression scrunch up a little bit. "I know you're not a big faann of ghosts Noire! Not zombies or any other evil monster!" Neptune taunted.

"What? No way! My big sister isn't scared of anything!" Uni defended. Noire promptly nodded in agreement.

"Yup, that's right, no ghost c-can scare me a-at all!"

 **RAH!**

"AH!" Noire yelped as the game menu appeared on the TV. Apparently every time the game starts up, it makes a ghastly zombie sound.

"Did I hear a scared Noire?" Neptune sarcastically asked while looking at her with a mischievous grin.

"W-What! No! Don't be assuming like that Neptune! I was just simply, letting some tension out," she replied while attempting to look casual.

"Sounded like a scre-"

"Shut it Mikey!"

"Since we're all here like good dysfunctional friends, it seems fair that we all play," Neptune said before bringing out a bunch of controllers. The girl then quickly hooked up each controller to the console, making for an odd five-player horror experience.

"W-Wait, I have t-to play?" Nepgear timidly asked.

"Don't worry Gear, I'll make sure all those spooky apparitions won't get to you!" Uni reassured.

"D-Do I h-have to play?" Mikey slowly asked as he pointed to himself. Even if he played a horror game with Neptune before, he still finds those creatures and monsters to be a frightening thing for him. He would much rather play a game that didn't involve thunders and spooky sounds so much.

"With that a-attitude of yours, of course you have to play!" Noire commanded. "We'll see who'll be screaming after this."

"Ha ha, is that a joke? I-I don't have to play right?" Mikey asked again with an unsure tone. "R-Right?" After not getting a proper response after a couple of seconds, he got up. It felt weird to him however, because he could feel a weight that was somehow dragging him down.

"Just where do you think you're going Mikey?" Nepgear asked as she held onto his leg. "A-Are you just going to leave me here?"

"W-What? I'm not doing that! I'm just getting a glass of water, that's all..." Mikey awkwardly replied before having her let go. "I'll come back don't worry!" Nepgear then stood up, surprising Mikey. "Do you need to get water too?"

"Nah, I'm not thirsty. I just want to make sure you don't just run away," she spoke to him with a grin.

"R-Run away, ha ha what do you mean? I-I'm just getting water, that's all. You d-don't need to watch me."

"Oh really now? So what if I just look away like th-" Her words were interrupted by the loud pattering steps of Mikey's quick escape. Unfortunately for the escapee, clumsily has fallen into his legs. Tripping and sluggishness affected him greatly, easily giving Nepgear an opportunity to stop him. "Where do you think you're going Mikey?" she giggled as she managed to stop the boy in his tracks.

* * *

"It's awfully quiet in here..." I commented as all of our characters walked through a dilapidated slaughterhouse. The air was thick and foggy, dead mangled corpses hang from rusty hooked chains, and splattered blood was all over the cold concrete ground. Needless the say, the atmosphere was as ominous as slaughterhouse atmospheres can get.

"Shhh... I'm trying to find something!" Noire said before her character went through a eerily open door. It happened to be an empty office. As we looked at the walls, scary and explicit sayings were hastily scribbled over the area where we were looking at.

"What? How did that get there?" Nepgear questioned. "What does it say?"

"It says 'GET O-' and the rest of it is just illegible," Uni said.

"Does it say 'GET OUT' then?" Neptune asked. "I seen those types of messages tons of times before."

"Hey, there's a box of oats on the table," I pointed out.

"Box of oats, you must get it! It must be an incredibly important item!" Neptune said.

"Dang, I'm out of inventory space," Noire said.

"Then I'll pick it up," I said before my character reached out to grab the seemingly unassuming box of oats.

 **AHHHHHHHHHH**

"EEEEEEK!" the girls shrieked out as the box of oats Mikey picked up contained a severely mangled and rotting head of a person. I hate how anything scary gets accompanied with a surprising shrill scream.

"AHH OH SHIT!" I screamed out afterwards before throwing off his controller. "Who puts a damn head inside a box of oats?!"

"Uh maybe that guy standing behind you," Neptune said.

"Behind me? Oh. AHHH!" Without warning, a individual with a rusty machete appeared behind my recently mortified character.

"Oh crap! A butcher!" Noire yelled out before she made her character grab a wooden board and struck the figure right on the groin area. The machete wielding figure was unfazed.

"Chair attack!" Neptune yelled out before her character took a broken chair and smashed it against the figure's head. It appeared that the chair had no effect.

"Hit him with anything in this room!"

"Like this piece of paper!" Noire yelled out before throwing a crumpled up ball at the still standing figure. The only thing that I can really see was that I can see a wide smile on the shadowy figure's face.

"G-Guys, do something! I'm pressing stuff but nothing's happening!" I worriedly urged as the smile on the man got bigger and bigger. The ambient music in the background was starting to get louder and more dramatic.

"Wait I got it! Eat cabinet scary man!"

 **BOOSH**

Uni's attack seem to have triggered a blackout in the game.

"Hehehehehe...hehehehe..."

A little chuckle could be heard in the darkness. What's worse though is that we couldn't see our characters in that pure darkness.

"H-Hello? A-Anyone there?" a new voice called out, catching all of us off guard.

"What the, is there a guy there?" Nepgear asked.

"I-I-I-I need some h-help, i-is there anyone there?" the voice called out again, seeming incredibly desperate.

"I don't trust that voice at all," I said. "If they put heads in oats, then they must've made that voice come from some terrible caca monster."

"B-But Mikey, what if it's the guy we were looking for? Hey look there's more dia-EEEK! What's that?!"

* * *

"Who knew you could hang yourself on a doorknob, crazy right?" I casually asked as I got ready for bed. Luckily the guest room happened to house two beds, so I can finally sleep without touching or bumping into anything soft and warm. I have the tendency to move a lot in bed.

"Y-Yeah, crazy alright," Nepgear said. "I-I bet that game is going to keep me awake all night!" she worriedly said as she closed her eyes in fear. "That game was so scary, e-even you were scared from time to time!"

"Yeah I was, but you know what? I'll just sleep it off like Neptune always does," I optimistically said.

"Sleep it off? Did that game not affect you at all?" Nepgear asked in awe.

"I guess, I mean, it's just a video game right?" Out of nowhere, Nepgear suddenly jumped onto my bed, quickly getting into the blankets with me. I didn't even realize this happened before looking at the left side of the we.

 _"Great! Now I'll know who will help me sleep!"_

* * *

 **Omake 5: An Odd Lunch**

It was high noon, and with that comes a bustling period known as lunch time. It served as a much needed break from the hectic classes each student has to go through in the morning. The atmosphere in the lunch area was akin to the vibe of a social gathering, students grouping together and conversing as they consume their food.

On a lonesome table, sat Mikey, who just got out of his class. His last class before lunch happened to be history, one of his least favorite subjects. The only things he finds interesting in that class are his friends which makes the time go by quickly.

"Wonder what's taking them so long?" Mikey wondered as he pulled up a brown paper bag containing his lunch. It was a long time classic for him, the good ol' sandwich. Before even taking a bite into his sandwich, he felt a large bump beside him.

"Hiya Mikey! Thought I'd find you here!" Neptune greeted as she made herself comfortable in her newly found seat.

"Woah Neptune! Where did you come from?" Mikey asked after he was startled by his crazy purple-haired friend.

"Well, I ran here as fast as I could! That class was really starting to bore me," Neptune complained. "She wouldn't even let me draw memes on the whiteboard! It's like she's thwarting my artistic spirit!"

"Neptune you draw in my notebook every time I'm not looking!" I said as I pulled out my history notebook from my backpack. Just turning to a random page you can see where Neptune drew her little doodles and wrote her little notes.

"What?! Impossible!"

"Then what is this then?" I asked sarcastically as I showed her a page. All over the sides and in between the notes were various doodles of pudding and games. Beside these doodles were little notes like "Can't beat Nep!" or "Nep Nep was here!"

"Wow, you're notebook's really messy!" she laughed as she pointed out her own writings and such. "You have to keep it clean Mikey!" she teased as she got a hold of my notebook.

"Heh, keep it clean? When you sit next to me, we know that's not possible," I joked as I took a bite of my sandwich. "We always mess around with each other."

"Welp, it can't be helped can it? Besides, where is our friends?"

"They said they had to finish their test before leaving."

"Oh the test? I pretty sure I aced that ha!" Neptune laughed out as she brung out her dessert, multiple cups of pudding. "I know all of those questions!"

"What? How did you know all of those questions?! We were on a video game marathon last night, so I'm pretty sure we didn't study at all," I said.

"I didn't need to study, the questions were easy."

"That's not how I saw it..."

* * *

 **20 Minutes Before History Ends**

I had a half completed piece of paper before me on my desk, where I happened to be stuck on a particular question. This test had a total of 56 questions, and I was only on question 24.

The problem simply read: How many Dalai Lamas have there been?

Dalai Lamas? I know what a llama is but what in the world is a Dalai Lama? Maybe I just missed that part on my studies, so skipping seems like a reasonable option.

 _Question 25: What was the capital of Dacia?_

What? Dacia? Is that even a country? Maybe the next one's easier.

 _Question 26: Who was defeated in the battle of Sandwich in 1217?_

There's a freaking sandwich battle?! Who in the world would fight for a damn sandwich?! H-How can you lose a sandwich battle?! M-Maybe the next one...?

 _Question 27: Which civilization had invented the bagel?_

This is not going to be easy.

* * *

"Oh look! I think your sister's here!" I pointed out as we both saw a girl wondering around the area. It seems like she was trying to find us. Neptune, being the social butterfly she always is, waves her hands wildly in order to get her sister to notice her.

"Sis! Sis! Sit here!" Neptune called out, immediately grabbing her sister's attention. It wasn't long before Nepgear joined us for lunch.

"Hey sis, hey Mikey!" she greeted before eagerly sitting down next to us. "Robotics club is meeting today, wanna go?" she asked.

"Robotics club?" Mikey repeated. "I-I was sort of burned out by that last test, I might be to tired to go."

"Come on Mikey, you promised me you were going to go every meeting," Nepgear said as she put on a frown.

"Oooooh, are you going to break a promise to my sister?" Neptune asked.

"N-No! I wasn't going to do that!" Mikey denied. "I-I just feel tired today, but I'm going to still go," he stated, making Nepgear's expression light back up.

"Oh yay!" Nepgear exclaimed as she immediately hugged Mikey. It was just another sight that was common to see in school. "Let's get a move on," she said before proceeding to drag Mikey off into the hallway.

"H-Hey! Don't leave me by myself!" Neptune said before running after them.

* * *

"Finally!" Noire sighed after exiting the classroom with her sister. "That test was unbearably long."

"Tell me about it, those questions were driving me insane," Uni added. "Oh, I see Neptune running down the hallway, wonder what that's about?"

"NEPTUNE YOU RASCAL!" Mikey yelled out as he ferociously chased Neptune down. "GIVE ME BACK MY DOUGHNUT!"

"Ha! Like you were ever going to keep this snack all to yourself!" Neptune said. All this shouting and running got Uni and Noire to look out into the hallway.

"Oh hey Uni and Noire," Nepgear greeted before joining them in their spectating. "Did you finish your test?"

"Yeah we did, why's Mikey chasing down Neptune like a maniac though?"

"Oh my sister happened to stumble upon his backpack and we found out that Mikey keeps a handful of sweets in there," Nepgear explained.

"I feel bad for Mikey if that's the case," Uni joked as she pointed out how Mikey finally caught up to Neptune.

"Finally caught you! Hand me back that doughnut miss!" Mikey commanded.

"No! Never! You need to share!" Neptune rebutted before taking a big bite of his doughnut. Eating it right in front of the boy, Mikey was mortified.

"Stop! Don't eat that!" he ordered firmly.

 **NOM**

"What are you doing?!" he yelled out as he tried to stop the girl.

 **MUNCH**

"Why are you doing this?!" he asked as he realized he was losing hope.

 **GULP**

As Neptune swallowed the donut, savoring during the process, all of Mikey's chances of getting it back was now gone. But that wasn't the only thing that vanished. His friendliness was a good example.

"Mmmm! Delicious!" remarked a now satisfied Neptune. "Looks like you won't be getting your doughnut after all!" she taunted.

"Oh really now?" Mikey asked.

"Yes!" she replied.

"Well, if my doughnut disappears, I guess maybe your saves disappear too," he spoke in an ominous tone.

"Saves, what are you talking about?"

"You know, your Nepmon save. I got your little video game when you ditched your desk," he said before walking a far distance from the girl. From his pocket he took out a little cartridge that was used to play the game.

"Where are you going with this?" Neptune asked in a now incredulous tone.

"If my doughnut dies, so does your hard earned save," he announced with a sinister smile. "So don't blame me if it gets broken." Neptune, realizing what this new, doughnut-less Mikey was going to do, took a sudden step forward.

"You. Wouldn't. Dare," she challenged.

"Woah take a step back thief! We wouldn't want this to get destroyed right? Oh who am I kidding, it's going to get destroyed no matter what you do! Ha!" He let out a loud chuckle before running off into the hallway.

"Wow, he gets cranky without his doughnut."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Another chapter another week has gone by yay! Stuff's going to happen later, like always. January off to a nice and smooth start, which is nice! Hope you enjoyed reading and hope you're having a beautiful day or night.**_

 **I guess it's high noon somewhere. Video games and some other expensive DLCs will attract Vert. That means she coming...**

 **Update: Omake added**


	20. Very Vicious Videogames

**Chapter 20: Very Vicious Videogames**

* * *

 _DLC's and micro-transactions are an optional feature of the games you play. They provide extra content, extra swag, and an unfair advantage to beat your opponents. To be honest, I always dreamed of getting freaking EVERYTHING a game has to offer._

 _Now that selfish dream can be realized._

* * *

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

It was early in the morning where the sun was just starting rise. The alarm was already ringing it's horrible sounds of energetic cacophony. It might sound like a terrible sound to have in the morning, but it's an essential thing to have it you want someone to wake up.

Nepgear is a prime example of that, being able to slowly open her eyes to the constant beeping from the alarm clock.

"O-Oh sis I-I'm up!" Nepgear muttered out as she rubbed her eyes. In just a few short moments, she promptly got up and turned off the alarm with a slight bit of drowsiness. Looking back at the bed, she noticed Mikey sprawled out in an upside down position. The expression on his face was simply blissful, which put a smile on her face.

"Oh my, Mikey is such an energetic sleeper," she remarked before carefully nudging the boy awake.

"W-Wha?" he muttered out before seeing Nepgear look over him. "I-Is it morning already...?"

"Yup! Get up Mikey!" Nepgear eagerly said before getting him out of bed. "We have to eat breakfast!"

"Oh really now? Breakfast?" Mikey asked before glancing at the clock. "B-But it's five o'clock," he said before trying get himself up from the messy blankets. "I already feel tired."

"Well maybe some food might get your energy up. Let's go Mikey!"

"O-Ok, w-w-wait! AH-"

 **OOMPH**

Mikey clumsily tripped as he discovered that a blanket was still wrapped around his ankle.

"Mikey! Are you ok?" she said before rushing to his aid.

* * *

Some toast with raspberries, some omelette with some green onions and bits of ham, and the classic glass of orange juice. Noire and Uni were already up with a healthy breakfast already prepared, sitting on the table.

"I think our friends are finally awake," Uni remarked as she saw a faint figure running towards them.

"Yay! Breakfast!" Neptune happily yelled out as she immediately sat herself down when she reached the table. Her sister and I followed closely behind. It wasn't long before we were all seated.

"So, what took you so long? You and your Planeptune sleep schedules seems like a total wack when compared to ours," Noire joked as she started eating.

"Oh you know, waking up at five seemed totally ridiculous to me, so I tried to hit the snooze button," Neptune said before chomping on a piece of toast.

"I thought none of the alarms had a snooze button," Uni remarked.

"I bet she took the batteries out," Noire added with an unsurprised look. "On the other note, a problem has come up with our friend in Leanbox."

"Vert? What could be wrong?" Nepgear asked with concern.

"Something along the lines of an impending assault. She said she'll provide more details when we get to their Basilicom."

"W-Wait, there's another city?" I asked ignorantly.

"Yes and you'll get to see it up close pretty soon," Uni said before finishing her breakfast. "Come on, we should owe our distant friends some punctuality."

"W-Wait we're going to leave now?" I asked.

"Yeah, I don't see why not," Noire said.

"Let us get it over with and we go back to gaming!" Neptune pronounced.

"B-But how are we going to get there so fast?" I asked.

"Pfft! We can just fly there," Neptune said as she blew a raspberry. "One of the perks of being a CPU you know!"

Flying? I'm not a huge fan of perilous heights.

"D-Did you mention flying? Like up above the sky and stuff flying?"

"Yeah! Of course, what other type of flying is there? Let's get our flight on guys!" Neptune announced before a blinding flash of binary and code enveloped her. Seconds later, her alternate form emerged, revealing a much more mature looking Neptune. Looking around the room, it seems that everyone here was transforming into their supposedly more potent forms.

It didn't take long to realize that out of the whole group, I was the only one who happened to lack this ability. All the girls seemed drastically different but oddly similar at the same time.

"If you haven't known about our forms, then you should refer to me as Black Heart," she spoke.

"Same goes with me. Call me Black Sister," her sister added.

"I'm pretty sure you saw my form when we were fighting off your evil brother haven't we?" Purple Heart mentioned while giving off a smirk.

"Oh Leon? All the cruel things he has done to Mikey, I sure hope he's not the cause behind this," her sister added with a concerned expression.

"Don't worry Purple Sister, I'm sure that won't happen," Black Sister reassured. "Going back to now, how are we going to get Mikey there?"

"Ah! I know!" Purple Sister jumped up as she got an idea. She quickly ran behind me. A few moments later, she wrapped her arms around my chest, pulling me toward her. "Hope you can hold on Mikey!"

* * *

"How is our elevated friend doing?" Purple Heart asked as she glanced at her sister. Soaring through the air, Purple Sister held Mikey close with her arms. The altitude they were at was astounding, almost flying above the clouds.

"I'm doing jussssst fine," Mikey blankly spoke out as he looked at the surrounding clouds. The expression on Miley's face was akin to a poker face.

"Are you sure? You once told me you were afraid of huge heights," Purple Sister mentioned.

"I-I'm fine! Just that there's an awful lot of birds up here," Mikey said.

"Oh please, there's barely any birds around us," Black Heart scoffed as she looked around.

"T-Then what's that?" I pointed out as I saw a wall of birds a distance away fly toward us. As everyone of them started to actually look straight ahead of them, they realized that impact was almost imminent.

"AH! DUCKS!"

* * *

"My heads spinning like crazy..." Mikey commented as he slumped on the couch. Nepgear was near him, massaging his head to try to relieve the pain. The flight to the Leanbox Basilicom was short, but the penalties were still there. Apparently his immense fear of heights manifested itself as a terrible headache.

"D-Does it feel better Mikey?" Nepgear said as she laid his head on the couch.

"Yeah, a little bit, maybe I just need to stand up and go for a walk in order to get rid of this freaking headache," Mikey suggested before clumsily getting up.

"Well if you're going to walk around with that on your mind, then you better be careful," Nepgear worriedly warned. "Just make sure you don't wander out into a forest or something alright?"

"Yeah yeah, don't worry I won't get into trouble this time," he said with a smile before slightly opening the door.

"Are you sure about that?" Nepgear skeptically asked before getting up herself.

"Yeah, nothing to worry about with me," Mikey responded with a smirk. That comment prompted the worrisome candidate to rush up to Mikey's side.

"There's always something that makes me worried about you," Nepgear corrected.

"Is that so?" he asked as he pushed the door further open. "Then maybe you should come with me to get rid of that worry then," he jokingly said before taking a step out. He felt his hand held onto another hand.

"If you insist, then let us go together!" she said, surprising him by giving him a quick peck on his cheek. Once again, the boy was out of words.

* * *

As the two left, only Planeptune and Lastation CPUs remained in the room. Noire and Uni were talking with each other to pass the time. Neptune was running around, desperately trying to find something to do. The situation was stagnant, until the Leanbox CPU finally revealed herself.

"Oh my, so glad you guys came to my aid," Vert spoke as she came out of the corner. It seemed odd that she'd come from there.

"Where were you? I was so booooored..." Neptune whined before checking the corner where she came from. All she saw was a hallway with an open door.

"Yes that's right, what seems to be a problem?" Noire asked.

"Well, there's a problem that's been occurring all over the outskirts of Leanbox. Citizens have been reporting increased monster activity, which seems to be dangerously close to the farmlands and such."

"Increased monster activity? Couldn't the quest goers take care of it?" Uni questioned.

"No unfortunately, many of them commented how the monsters were extremely robust and massive for them to fight."

"So big enemies are the problem huh? Nothing a protagonist can't solve!" Neptune eagerly said.

"Well that's the reason I called you guys here, we have to go to the forests to find out what we're dealing with. Come on, there's no time to waste," Vert urged as everyone started to move towards the door. She turned back. "By the way, is Nepgear in Leanbox?"

"Yeah, I think she's out exploring with Mikey," Uni explained.

"Mikey huh? Could that be the new person you were talking about Noire?"

"Yes it is, that boy has a habit of getting himself into trouble. But never mind that, we gotta do some good old-fashioned questing!"

"Wait?! We have to do quests?!" Neptune pouted as she realizes what she has to do.

"Does your attitude toward work ever change?" Noire asked.

* * *

"Ooh there lots of people crowding by that building. Let's check it out," Nepgear suggested.

As we went towards the heavily crowded building, posters with warning signs were scattered all across the building's walls. Each of them had bold text with a caution sign, reading out: **BEWARE NEW ENEMIES SPOTTED IN THESE AREAS!**

"New enemies? What are they talking about?" one person asked.

"I heard of a foe even more powerful than an ancient dragon! People say they've been spotted all over this place!"

"S-Something more powerful than an ancient dragon... what could that be?" Nepgear asked.

"Maybe there's some more details inside," I suggested before we made our way through the crowd into the inside.

Immediately as we went in, a guild member was speaking to a large group of people. He happened to be pointing at a screen with a forest picture projected onto it. We must've stumbled onto a meeting.

"My fellow lads, we have sighted reports of an incredibly dangerous new foe which happens to be ten times more powerful than an ancient dragon."

"Ten times?"

"Is he crazy?"

The speaker pushed a button, revealing a colossal silver armored dragon. It looked intimidating from here.

"Oh yes, believe me, these not-so-friendly reptiles of death are sprouting all over Leanbox! Unlike your scaly brutish ancient dragon, we now have an incredibly fortified, extremely powerful enemy in its place. The Modern Dragon."

"W-Wait, isn't this the problem Vert's dealing with?" Nepgear asked before the next slide was shown. It featured the dragon roaring a robust flame. Upon closer squinting, it seems the dragon has some earbuds with some wires going into its wings. An odd feature of a formidable enemy.

"And even worse, their capacity for damage is complemented by another newly discovered enemy," the speaker went on. Going to a new slide, a zoomed picture was shown of a unfamiliar type of dogoo. It seemed to be armed with a pistol along with a fierce looking bandana.

"Dogoo Desperados is what we call them. Armed with a pistol, they're fast, accurate, and sneaky. They seem to make the difficulty of killing these dragons an impossibility."

"Nepgear I think we should go and get the others," I said.

"Good idea, let's make haste before this apparent danger gets any bigger," Nepgear said before we went straight out of the building.

Oddly enough, our other friends happened to be rushing towards us, urgency in their expressions. There's one person that I didn't recognize. All I have to say about her was that she's blonde and sporting on something big.

Not going to say what it is since Nepgear was close enough to see what I was looking at. The girl seemed to have a joyful look when she saw Nepgear.

"Wouldn't think to find you guys here," Noire commented.

"Ah! My wonderful Nepgear is here!" Very exclaimed before giving the candidate a loving hug. "How have you been?"

"Doing good!" Nepgear answered.

"Oh and this young lad must be Mikey," Vert said before facing towards me. "My name's Vert, CPU of this wondrous land called Leanbox."

"Nice to meet you Vert," I said back.

"Greetings and pleasantries aside, what are you guys doing here?" Uni asked.

"We were just checking out the big crowd of people gathering around here. They seem to have spotted those new enemies," Nepgear explained.

"We were just going there to check out this crowd too," Noire said.

 **RAWWWWWWWRRR**

A large ground-shaking roar was heard from the distant forest overlooking the city area.

"Ah! It's over there!" one person yelled out.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Noire said.

* * *

"There it is! The modern dragon!" Nepgear pointed out as the group reached a clearing in the light forest. The foliage around them was violently shaking, little bits of blue moving along the leaves.

"What?! We have to fight that?!" Neptune yelled out as she looked up. The dragon was enormous, impregnable silver armor surrounding its body and wings. It's almost as if the dragon was the armor.

"This is certainly a force to be reckoned with," Noire commented as she drew her weapon. "We may have to transform for this encounter."

Her remark triggered the dragon to look straight at the gang. Its eyes had the colors of burning rubies, ready to spew out its misdirected fury.

"I-It's looking at us! Let's take it!" Uni said before transforming. Soon, everyone around Mikey transformed into their powerful forms. Since Mikey was the only one that couldn't transform, he hid in the foliage in order to shoot the dragon without drawing attention.

"Everyone attack it at once! It can't defeat all of us together!" Black Heart ordered.

 **RAAAWWWWWRRR**

The dragon yelled out the second time. As everyone prepared to attack, the dragon fiercely tore off a group of trees and chucked it somewhere else.

" **WHO ARE YOU!?** "the dragon roared out as it accusingly pointed at the CPUs. The fact that a dragon could talk greatly surprised them.

"W-What? T-This foe can actually talk?" Purple Heart questioned.

" **YOU ARE NOT THE PERSON THAT MASTER WANTS!** " it pointed out before using one of its claws to smash the ground. Luckily it didn't hit anyone.

"Master? What's it talking about?" Purple Sister asked.

" **YOU ARE NOT THE ONE! THEREFORE YOU SHALL PERISH!** "it announced before gathering a furious ball of energy inside its big mouth. Facing its head towards the CPUs, it prepared to fire a devastating laser.

 _"Get out of the way!"_

* * *

 **Omake 6: Odd Rainy Day**

On a day where it rains, it's comforting to know that it rains. The bits of water dropping down from the sky to the service, truly an annoyance to everyone around. Truly an annoyance to a quaint Nepgear, walking in the pouring weather.

With an umbrella in her hand, she held a slowly sagging bag of groceries in the other hand. Errands like this weren't uncommon when you're a sibling of Neptune.

Strolling down the road, looking at the shops and restaurants full of people, she noticed one vendor that wasn't so crowded. It happened to be a little game shop, consoles and latest games were lining the sleek shelves inside.

"This seems like a place Mikey would go to," Nepgear commented as she closed her umbrella and outside walked near the store window. As she predicted, she saw Mikey looked through the various new games they had, comparing those casings with each other.

"Speaking of that, what's he doing outside in this weather?" she asked herself before slowly entering the shop. The only people besides Mikey that was inside was just the shopkeeper reading a magazine. As she got a better look at the young boy, she discovers that he was barely wearing anything warm. Not a coat, not even a sweater to protect against any weather. Surprisingly he was dry.

"Hey Mikey!" Nepgear instinctively called out before walking up to him.

The sound of his name being called out instantly grabbed his attention.

"Hey Nepgear! You're here!" Mikey happily said before putting the game down. "What brings you outside on this sunny day?"

"Sunny? Did you look outside?" she said before pointing out the window. Taking a quick glance outside, he realized that a sunny day was far from the actual weather.

"B-But when I came in it wasn't raining at all!" Mikey claimed before taking a closer look at the storm.

"No wonder you didn't get wet so far. Maybe you wanna walk with me back home?" Nepgear asked before ruffling his dry hair. "I need someone to accompany me in this rain you know."

"What? Right now?" Mikey asked in a slight whiny tone. "But I'm going to get instantly drenched if I step outside."

"True, we can't have you getting a cold around here. Wait! Take my coat Mikey!" she said before taking off her extra jacket and handing it to him. "Now you'll have to go with me!"

* * *

The weight of the rain could be truly felt when holding an umbrella. Nonetheless, the two managed to not get extremely damp. Nepgear ended up hugging Mikey's arm the whole way, saying she felt cold and needed something warm to hold onto.

"How did this happen?" Mikey asked as he was the one to hold the bag of groceries.

"Because a sweet man needs to be sweet for his girl~" Nepgear replied before looking into the bag.

 **WOOSH**

A gust of wind blew past them, making control of the umbrella tough.

"Ah! Wind!" Mikey squealed out as he tried to gain back his grip. Both of them ended up getting wet in the process. "Dang, now I'm freakin soaked!" he disappointedly said as he held up the umbrella again. He could feel his pants, shirt, and hair dripping with water.

"Hehe, maybe you deserved that," Nepgear said before looking up at him with a grin.

"Hey! You got wet too," Mikey taunted before flipping his damp hair. He got a paper blown into his face as a response. "Blah! What the!" he said before taking it off his face. The paper happened to be advertising a new indie video game featuring a character named Bob.

"Bob?" Mikey asked as he seemed to have saw that name before.

* * *

 **FLASHBACK**

"Okay Mikey, you better not play this game," Bob ordered as he held up a Hyperdimension Neptunia game before putting on the carpet. "I've been reading on the internet that people keep getting sucked into these different dimensions."

"Different dimensions, are you outta your mind?" Mikey gave off a scoff at the absurdness of the idea. "If that were true than why do you have this game?"

"A friend gave it to me. It would've been rude to not accept it."

Mikey gave him an unsure look.

"Whaaat? Your brother has done more questionable things than me. I'm gonna go get a sandwich," he said before going out of the room.

"Damn, Bob takes such a long time to eat before coming back. It's going to take forever..." he muttered out before glancing at the console with the game lying next to it.

"Well...nah, I'll humor the lad. Might as well play on my phone..."

* * *

"Mikey Mikey, you feeling ok?" Nepgear asked as she waved her hand in front of his face. Realizing he was spacing out, he shook his head to get back into the now.

"O-Oh, yeah. Yeah I am," he said before they were walking again.

"Are you sure? You just had a spaced out look on your face."

"Yeah yeah, just something sudden just came into my mind," he said before throwing the poster into the blowing winds.

"Oh, what is it that came into your mind?" she asked curiously.

"Somebody from way back, I-I think his name was Bob or something weird like that," he said.

"Maybe it was a dream from last night? I heard you mutter something about a someone named Bobo or something," Nepgear suggested.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Mikey said.

"Aren't I always?" she smiled at him as she got closer.

"Ha! Not always!"

"Mikey! So mean!"

* * *

"Oh, finally home!" Mikey let out a relieved sigh as he took off his outer clothing. Without external wetness stopping him, he jumped onto the couch. "I'm a take a nap."

"What are you my sister now?" Nepgear asked with a suspicious look. Before she can finish, the boy was already sleeping.

"Rain or shine, the experience is always different," she said before putting a blanket over him and going into her room.

* * *

 ** _Author's Notes: Thought I would make some new enemies you know? Anyways omake is coming like always and thanks for the continued support! Hope you have a wonderful time reading and writing and such! How would they get out of this one?_**

 ** _Update: omake added odd one too for some reason…_**

 _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_ _ **NEP**_

 _ **Wonder how many neps I put?**_


	21. Frenzied Free Friendship

**Chapter 21: Frenzied Free Friendship**

* * *

 _Dragons and dogoos should be two separate things. They should fight, they should be sworn enemies. They shouldn't even know each other. The fact that they're working together makes me think that this area is just out to get us._

* * *

 **BAAAHHH**

The dragon roared its destruction beam, easily tearing through the forest walls. Luckily everyone out there leapt out of the way. I couldn't see much when hiding in the foliage, but I certainly knew that the CPUs were trying to give the dragon a tough fight.

"Focus fire on its weak spots!" Black Sister commanded.

"Weak spots? I don't see any glowing red areas anywhere on this beast," remarked Purple Heart.

Weak spot huh? I recall that the dragon had some earbuds with wires going into some unknown location. Running through the bushes in order to see what was on the dragon, I saw a small little device protruding from its left wing.

"Welp, might as well shoot it," I thought to myself as I started to aim my rarely used pistol.

 **BANG**

Letting out a loud crack, a minuscule hole was formed, inches away from the device.

Everyone misses their shot, so why not take another one?

 **BANG**

A new hole was formed centimeters above the device.

"What? Can I not aim?!" I frustratingly said to myself as I proceeded to aim my pistol once again.

"Because you're just a rookie," responded a deep masculine voice.

"What? Who said that?" I absentmindedly asked.

 **BANG**

I heard a deafening gunshot inches behind me along with a bunch of slimy bouncing sounds afterwards. Quickly doing a 180 turn, I was revealed to a giant mob of those desperado dogoos.

"AH!" I yelped out as each of them menacingly pointed their revolvers at me.

"You better shove that 'AH!' back down your throat son. You're gonna have to save that for what we're going to do to you," threatened one of the dogoos.

Knowing that I had to not aggravate the dogoos, I said the one thing that'll calm anyone and anything down.

"Oh, cowboy dogoos," I quietly spoke out.

The statement must've been extremely offensive because the dear utter of the word "cowboy" instantly got me incredibly angry expressions.

"Did this dumbass call us cowboys?"

"This boy has a death wish."

"Wait till Richard hears this damn crackhead."

"Enough! We will show him retribution for his harsh ignorant words," one dogoo remarked before cocking its gun. "And for you..."

"Yes...?" I shyly asked.

"I'll give you five seconds."

"Five seconds?"

"Five."

"Wait what?"

"Four."

 _Something tells me I have to run my ass off._

* * *

 **BOOM BANG BANG**

"YOUR PUNY ATTACKS HAVE NO EFFECT ON ME!" the dragon roared out as it furiously swung at one of the CPUs. Even if it's a mob baddie, the statement it says is true. The protagonists weren't having much luck with their foe.

"This dragon is the type to take the worst of beatings," Purple Heart said before decisively attacking its head. The dragon didn't flinch.

" **HA HA! I LAUGH AT YOUR FUTILE EFFORTS!** "the dragon gave out a monstrous chuckle before managing to hit Black Heart, slamming her into a broken tree.

"This thing is testing my patience," White Sister said before circling the dragon. Using her keen sight, she noticed bullet holes around a small rectangular device on the dragon's wing. Taking any opportunity to harm the dragon, Black Sister took a shot at the device, instantly hitting and soon destroying the object.

 **BWASH**

" **AHHH!** "Seconds later, the dragon let out an ear-shrieking scream.

"Black Sister, what did you do?" Purple Sister asked as she witnessed the dragon slowly get frenzied with each passing second.

"I-I don't know, I just destroyed this little thing on its wing."

" **MY...MY...MUSIC!** "it cried out as it looked at the one behind it. " **YOU...** " it ominously called out.

" **I ALWAYS LOVED KILLING THINGS WITH MUSIC, BUT FOR YOU...** "

" **I'M GOING TO MAKE AN EXCEPTION!** " it yelled out before charging a large ball of energy in its mouth. Instead of firing after a few seconds, it continued gathering energy, the ball getting bigger and bigger.

 **BAAAAAAAH**

It fired a colossal beam of white light, instantly vaporizing anything in its path. It seemed that the dragon only fired the laser at a random set of trees.

"It can't control itself!" Black Heart called out before looking at the dragon's eyes. For such a majestic looking being, its attitude couldn't compare. Soon the dragon was firing more and more lasers, wasting more and more of its energy. Despite the punch behind its attacks, the CPUs were now able to dodge them pretty easily. Each successive miss made the dragon even angrier.

" **STUPID STUPID STUPID! STOP MOVING!** " it cruelly ordered.

"Enough is enough Richard." A gritty voice came from the area of the recently destroyed trees. It immediately caught the dragon's attention. Out of the burnt ashes, a hat-wearing revolver-wielding dogoo hopped out. "You're little antics almost got my ass toast. What the hell are you trying to do?!"

"Wait wait, who are you?" Black Heart immediately asked, interrupting their conversation. The dogoo paid no attention to her.

" **I-I WAS JUST TRYING TO DESTROY THESE FOOLS!** "

"While you were 'trying to destroy these fools' we ended up finding the person master wanted."

" **WHAT? HE'S HERE?** " the dragon asked, its attitude seeming to be suddenly elevated. Out from the not destroyed trees, Mikey was clumsily running out before falling face flat on the grass. A giant squad of marauder dogoos followed shortly behind. They immediately got a formed a dogoo cage around him, Mikey struggling to get out.

"Mikey!" Purple Sister called out before landing on the ground. Only taking one step towards the boy-

 **STOMP**

She was halted by the dragon's foot which happened to be in the way.

"Who do you think you are approaching Michael like that?" the dogoo asked in a skeptical tone.

"Who do you think you guys are trying to stop us?" challenged Purple Heart.

"There is no need for you to know who we are. All you really need to know is that we're dangerous," it spoke ominously.

"Dangerous? Is that a challenge?" Purple Sister asked.

"Well it doesn't have to be, just give the boy to us and we'll forget about this whole thing," the dogoo proposed with an indifferent look.

"Ha! To give into a villain's orders is to throw all the integrity we worked so hard to maintain," Black Heart proudly said.

"Oh really? Richard~" it called out to the dragon. The metal beast narrowed its eyes on the objecting CPU. "I'm afraid a 'no' simply won't be an option."

"Dragon or not, we will defeat it!" Purple Heart proclaimed.

 **BANG**

A nearby dogoo next to the talkative one was destroyed into itty bitty slimy pieces.

"That was just a start," Black Sister commented.

"Oh. So that's how it's going to be?" it sarcastic asked before signaling one of its bandit friends. The dogoos quickly stood Mikey up, him being totally terrified of what's going to happen.

"Richard, I hope you won't miss this shot," it said with a smirk.

" **GLADLY!** " it happily roared out before turning his head to look at Miley's face. He was awfully close.

"Damn it Richard did you not listen to the master!? Turn your head around!" Heeding its command, the dragon turned its head

Without hesitation, all the watching CPUs turned to their attacks once again, this time having an easier time injuring and damaging the dragon.

"Ha! Looks like its music was keeping this thing alive!" Purple Heart yelled out before dealing another swift strike on the dragon's body.

" **DAMN YOU ARE LIKE STINGING INSECTS!** " the dragon remarked.

"Quick, get on them! Shoot them!" the dogoo commanded. Every dogoo available rushed to the scene from the bushes and the horribly burnt trees. Even the ones keeping Mikey captive dashed away without paying attention.

As the CPUs were wearing down the dragon's strength and energy, it stopped fighting back. Instead, a faint white light was seen inside its mouth.

"What is it doing?" Purple Sister asked as the light was growing brighter and brighter.

"Must be charging for an ultimate attack or something," Purple Heart called out before destroying a large group of dogoos. The dragon's face became restrained trying to hold in all of its gathered energy.

Black Heart sliced and attacked its face, but to no avail. She noticed a look of pure hatred in its eyes. Its head shaking violently, ready to blow its head in any moment.

"I-I think we need to fall back!"

 **HRRNNNNNNNGHH**

The dogoo took a second to look at its supposed dragon pal Richard. His face dropped in terror.

"Oh no. Richard NO-"

 **BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM**

* * *

The purple candidate slowly opened her eyes, only to discover she was back to her normal form. Looking around, only smoking blackened mess of destroyed nature surrounded her. She slowly got up.

"What the..." she said in awe as she discovered her sister with the Lastation sisters lying in the distance. They also got up looking around them. Everyone noticed one thing however, the dragon was no longer there.

In its place, a incredibly injured dogoo and a damaged looking boy could be seen, fighting each other. It was absurd to physically fight unarmed with a dogoo, but despite that, the battle looked intense.

"Stop talking shit about my brother!" Mikey shouted out before fiercely jabbing the dogoo in the face. "I hate hearing your damn rhetoric!"

"Rhetoric? Your brother's the one full of rhetoric. Not me! Not me...!" the dogoo repeated before hopping up and upper cutting the boy. "H-H-He's the one at fault! I-If you take a gooooood look at yourself..."

The dogoo's natural calm demeanor wasn't present. Instead a stuttering mess took its place.

"You're not making sense," Mikey coldly said.

"Well you're not yourself. H-He always said one day you'll be like him! J-J-Just like him!"

 **PUNCH**

"Shut up. You don't know what you're saying."

"That cruel attitude. The looks! Oh the looks! It's all coming together! All for the expense for my true friend! My Ri-" it choked up in its own words. The dogoo was looking incredibly pitiful, but that didn't stop Mikey though. He simply was angry. It was astounding at the CPUs watched this take place. Nepgear in particular couldn't believe it.

"I simply can't let you live Michael. Even if master is so displeased if that were to happen," it disappointedly said before drawing its revolver. To its surprise Mikey was already prepared.

"I had the same plans. Adios," he smiled.

 **OOMPH**

* * *

 **Omake 7: A Good Meal**

Being able to control what you eat is an essential part of maintaining health and a comfortable physique. Controlling what you eat meant that you just couldn't live off chips for years. Instead vegetables and fruits will be needed along with other foods to provide the necessary minerals and vitamins for a healthy body.

Sadly, Mikey and Neptune have a way of eating anything they deemed was consistently tasty. Mikey was a cook, but he would much rather eat chips than to actually cook something. And Neptune, well you know how she feels about vegetables in general.

This fact becomes especially concerning to her sister.

Surely a diet combination of NepBull, pudding, and chips would make for disastrous nutrition for the body.

"Yo Neptune, pass me that NepBull! I'm thirsty as hell here," Mikey casually said as Neptune tossed a drink to him. "Thanks," he said before popping it open.

The two happened to discover a new game which happened to instantly engross them into playing it for hours on end. Something about collecting loot and killing things is incredibly rewarding and satisfying. For those reasons, they needed quick delicious food to satisfy their gaming needs.

"YES! HA HA!" Mikey triumphantly shouted out. "The legendary gun is mine!"

"Hey no fair! I only have five so far!" Neptune pouted.

"Look! This shotgun can fire really fast!" he excitedly said.

"I bet that your gun can't fire like mine can," Neptune challenged.

"Why would it do that? I wouldn't want my gun to be inferior like yours," he teased with a smirk. As he finished his rebuttal, Nepgear walked into the room, greeted by the omnipresent mess of junk food. She started to see a trend in the past few days.

"Oh my, how much chips have they ate?" she asked herself before going behind the couch. It was just in the morning, before breakfast, and the two were already scarfing down everything like a hungry dragon.

"So. What have you guys been up to?" she inquired, surprising her sister and Mikey. They paused the game and looked at her.

"Eating. Gaming. The Neptune usual," Neptune casually said.

"What she said," Mikey said.

"Have you eaten anything healthy the past few days?" Nepgear curiously asked.

"Uhhh, do fried potatoes count?" Neptune joked.

"I mean this NepBull is like watermelon flavored. Watermelon's hecka healthy for you," Mikey added.

Their answers confirmed her growing suspicions.

"Do you think you're going to eat any vegetables or something like that?" Nepgear asked.

"Nah. I'm good. Green things should stay in the earth, not be in my mouth," Mikey said.

"And besides, not even all of them are green!"

"Oh," Nepgear blandly said before standing upright. It wasn't long before she walked off, a new mission in her mind.

* * *

"Ok Neptune, I'm gonna go cook dinner," Mikey said before getting up and walking towards the kitchen. Being a natural chef and a cook, it would make sense to cook for the Planeptune sisters.

"Time to cook," Mikey said before putting on his apron. He noticed a couple of plates lying around.

On one plate was an exquisite salad filled with luscious looking vegetables. To Mikey, it looked as though it would actually be a delicious healthy meal. He was nodding his head in approval, as he closely inspected the salad. He happened to be skeptical towards all types of salads. Especially when the salads have names next to them.

"Wait a second."

"I believe I see a mushroom slice in there. What's up with that?" Mikey incredulously asked as he took a fork. Moving a piece of lettuce, more mushroom was revealed to him. He instantly cringed when he saw it. The tainted salad happened to contain Mikey's name.

Mushrooms were the bane of his taste buds. Now knowing what he was about to eat, he used his fork to inspect Neptune's salad. All he saw were the accursed eggplant slices. The contents and the salads and the corresponding names seemed like a terrible coincidence.

"We've been set up..." Mikey muttered under his breath. Upon that revelation, he could feel a premonition coming on. The first logical thing to do was to run out, shouting and warning his purple haired friend.

"Neptune! Neptune! Get out of here!" Mikey shouted as he ran out of the kitchen. "Get the chips and the pudding! We're going to the park!"

"Mikey, you sound deranged! Why would I do that?" Neptune asked before getting up to take a look at him.

"You're going to have to eat an eggplant!"

She stopped in her place while dropping the controller. She immediately ran up to Mikey, showing him her terrified face.

"Well we better get going to that park then," she urgently said before dragging Mikey off through the door. Before she can even run off with him, someone was blocking the doorway.

"Where do you think you're going?" Nepgear looked up at them, revealing an ominous face.

"Sis! What are you doing in the door way?" Neptune asked as she looked for a new way to escape. "Shouldn't you be working on your new robotic project?"

"I needed materials to continue progress. Now I need to know, are you planning on going somewhere?" Nepgear asked. Mikey saw that she was holding something behind her back.

"Y-Yes! We are in fact, going somewhere! I need to pick up batteries for, the remote!" Mikey said. "Now if you could juuussst let us throu-"

"That won't be necessary."

"Wait what? But batteries are most needed!" Neptune argued.

"You don't need batteries to enjoy a healthy snack."

"A healthy snack?"

She revealed one hand which was holding an eggplant.

"AH! What does my sister have those things!?"

"Ha! You have to eat an eggplant!" Mikey taunted.

She revealed her other hand which was holding a bag of brown mushrooms.

 _"Oh. It was nice knowing you Neptune."_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Taking an odd edgy approach to this because something edgy has to happen again. Might turn out bad or okay but just trying it out. nyways hope you enjoyed the chapter, got some more time to write so everything can work out faster. As always, a thanks to all my continued support.**_

 _ **Leave something and have a beautiful time reading!**_

 ** _Omake added due to idea making inside my mind. Seven omakes make seven great oreos. You know what they say: make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake_** ** _make me an omake._**


	22. Relevant Rested Relationships

**Chapter 22: Relevant Rested Relationships**

* * *

 _Some people lose control. I just needed a reminder. Not those annoying things that tell you to get something important done, but those people that remind you what you aren't supposed to do._

* * *

Everyone's astonished. Nepgear tackled Mikey to the ground, stopping the dogoo's abrupt and untimely death. It even surprised him that someone was there to do that.

"Who did that?!" Mikey growled as he tried to face the culprit.

"You need to stop!" Nepgear said before pointing at him. Realizing who it was that stopped him, he immediately froze up. A regretful look was on his face.

"I-I thought y-you were all..." he trailed off before looking off to the side. He soon noticed the others looking over from a distance. "Oh no... I-I thought that explosion f-finished you off because you were so c-close to it..."

"It's okay Mikey. We are all fine," Nepgear said before giving him a comforting hug. She could see some tears dropping from Mikey's eyes. Not wanting herself to cry, she wiped them off the boy, giving him a warm smile. "I hate to see you like this you know? Always worrying about me and the others. I should be worried about you."

"T-Thanks Nepgear," he slowly said with a small smile. Her smile grew, knowing the boy felt much better with her here. Nepgear looked around to find out the dogoo was no longer there. To her, the threat here was gone for now.

"Come on Mikey, I think we need to heal up at the Basilicom. T-That explosion really did a doozy on our health," she said before they helped each other up.

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Vert asked me.

I inspected the bandages around my waist and arms. They said I was lucky I was hiding behind all those trees. It sorta lessened the impact for me. Only minor cases of severe scrapes were the injuries I gotten.

"Just fine," I replied while looking at Nepgear. Maybe it's odd how I gotten used to the whole "getting hurt" part in this world.

"I have to say though, you do have a fierce spirit inside you," remarked Vert. "That is, not until dear Nepgear stopped you. What's that about?"

"Oh, it was just a spur of the moment thing you know? I-I sort of lost control over my fury," I sheepishly said. "B-But don't worry! I assure you that I'm not evil at all!" Vert giggled at the thought.

"Don't worry, none of us think you're the bad guy, especially if you're with that candidate. I was just wondering, that dogoo mentioned something about your brother. How you'll 'just be like him' and stuff. Mind telling me about that?"

Just be like him? Well I swore I would never end up like that depraved lunatic.

"J-Just know that I'm not like my brother. That's all," I blandly said before looking away.

"Hmm, very interesting. Nepgear, would you mind coming over here for a bit?" Vert asked as she signaled her to come.

"Yes Vert? Anything you need?" Nepgear asked when she walked over.

"Do you know anything about Mikey's brother?" Vert asked with a pensive look. Nepgear had an unsure expression, probably from thinking about that accursed Leon.

"His brother is practically the antithesis of Mikey. We only really met him once, and he viciously shot at us. Ended up stabbing Mikey in the end," Nepgear said indifferently before glancing at my body. "I don't know what that man really wants, but all I know is that Mikey's involved in it," she slowly said before gently holding my hand.

"So Mikey and the cities are in danger if his brother gets his way. It's obvious we need to stop him."

"Heya Mikey! How is my bestie doing so far?" Neptune popped out from behind, surprising me greatly.

"AH! Neptune!" I squealed out.

"Since I am protagonist of the protagonists, I discovered I am also an expert in healing!"

"E-Expert in healing?" I asked with a shocked look. "Who would you heal?"

"Well, using my keen sight, you are the most in need for health points!" Neptune announced while pointing specifically at me. "Time to hug you back to health!"

"AH! I-I'm being Nepped!" I yelped out before succumbing to her bear hug. I could feel myself instantly getting warmer.

"Now I didn't even say you were a healer!" Noire said in an annoyed tone as she saw Neptune attempting to heal me.

* * *

"Can't stop a Nep from Nepping can you?" Uni remarked as she went by Nepgear. "So Gear, any clues who this supposed 'master' is? The dragon and those dogoos mentioned it so frequently."

"Yeah, the master happens to be the man who put Mikey in the hospital."

"I-In the hospital, you mean Leon? I thought he disappeared off the face of the dimension," Uni said in surprise.

"Well apparently not. It seems though we need to train really hard if we are to defeat him once again. Especially Mikey, I feel he needs to really defend himself if we aren't there to fight with him," Nepgear said with a concerned expression.

"But he's capable of doing some damage. He's good with rifles and firearms. And from what I witnessed when we survived that explosion, he could really fight ferociously," Uni recalled.

"Well, t-that part about him. It just concerns me. I felt a weird vibe when he fought that dogoo. It was like he changed. I didn't like that one bit Uni."

"Wait, he changed? What do you mean?"

"He seemed so cold and ruthless. I don't know, that personality didn't seem right," Nepgear gave off a relieved sigh. "Luckily though, it was only a rare instance."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well..." Nepgear started off, trying to remember the recent memory. "He lost control after seeing all of us blacked out from the explosion. He happened to get up earlier than the rest of us."

"So, him seeing you made him snap out of it?" Uni asked curiously.

"Yeah," she spoke before glancing at Neptune and Mikey laughing and having a swell time.

"All that tells me is that Mikey would've done anything to protect those he cares about, even if it means sacrificing something in return. I mean, just look at him," Uni pointed out with a grin.

"Neptune I don't think tickling me is going to do me any goo-ha!" Mikey chuckled as Neptune was ruthlessly tickling him. He couldn't escape.

"That's just your injuries talking!" Neptune mentioned.

"What? Injuries can't even say anything!"

"I see. He's got a real bond here," Nepgear remarked before looking back at Uni.

"And that's why we're going to train him. So he can be a fine warrior. A fine shooter. The boy's got potential," Uni said in a sure tone. The statement seemed to have lightened up Nepgear's mood. Looking back at Mikey, she saw he was lying down, Neptune jumping beside him in celebration.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm going to train him through it!" Nepgear declared before standing straight up. Looking back at the area where Neptune and Mikey was, the boy seemed to have disappeared.

"Where did he go?"

* * *

Since I had nothing better to do than to just wait for my body to get better, I felt the best course of action for me was to just observe. Vert mentioned something about training due to the new enemies and I was interested in those words.

Training to defeat bandit dogoos and a giant dragon. Seemed great, but the stuff they were doing was something a normal boy wouldn't achieve. All I could do was to sit back and watch the resolute Noire and reluctant Neptune training outside with Vert.

"Mikey?"

I looked back to see Nepgear, standing behind me.

"Hey Nepgear! How's your body holding up?"

"Good I suppose. I plan on going to train at the back part of the Basilicom. Wanna come?" she asked.

"Come train? Are you sure about that? You know I can't fight," I sheepishly admitted.

"Well that's why I'm going to help you!" she eagerly said. The idea of help did seem attracting to me. Being trained by one of my closest friends, how could I say no?

"If that's the case then..." I felt my hand holding onto another hand.

"Then it's a date," she said to me with a sweet smile.

* * *

"Okay Mikey, you grip the sword like this," she said before showing me how she held her saber sword. She gave me one of the training swords as practice.

"L-Like this?"

"Yes yes, just like that," Nepgear said. "Now you know how to grip it, I think it's time for me to show you some basic attacks." She proceeded to demonstrate a few basic moves. Just simple swinging and stabbing motions in different angles.

"So for one of the attacks, you swing like this to get your force to work with you," Nepgear explained before slowly showing one of the attacks. "Now you try."

I swing my training sword in the same way she did it. I thought I did a pretty good job nailing it. She nodded in approval.

"See? You're getting this. Now for some other moves you should know. Doing these can get you some combo hits," she explained. She swung her sword in a variety ways, each move seemed to be linked together with the last. "Now you try it."

If I see something long and unfamiliar, I probably can't do that something.

"Uhh, c-can you show me again?" I shyly asked.

"Of course. Here I'll do it slowly," she said. Her executing the move a second time, I followed along with her.

"Nice Mikey. Now let's try some blocks," she said before holding her sword in various positions. "This will allow you to block the attacks from enemies."

"Oh I see," I remarked before trying to preform those same blocks. Looking back at Nepgear, she had a glad expression.

"What are you looking at?" I asked her as I noticed she was looking at me.

"Oh it's nothing. It's just that you sorta remind me of myself when I was very young. The look of just learning how to fight the evils of this world," she explained.

"Fighting the evils, noooo! I can't do that," I said as I shook the thought away.

"You think you can't, but I believe you can. Now come on, I want to see if you can practice against me."

"Practice against you?"

"Yeah, like sparring. Don't worry, I won't ever try to hurt you," she reassured before taking one of the training swords as her own.

"Just make sure you don't hurt me either!"

* * *

"Man, swordplay really gives me an appetite! I think I'll just whip myself a meal worthy for my stomach," Mikey said as he eyed the kitchen.

"Well you usually do cook yourself a delicious meal," Nepgear said as she followed him. "Hopefully you can save some for us."

"Don't worry, I'm a generous cook. So generous that I can make Neptune full," he confidently said before waltzing into the kitchen. "Now I hope there's an apron around here, really gets me in the mood."

Searching around, he soon found one in a tall cabinet. A pink apron with a heart in the middle, it wasn't the type he would usually wear.

"On second thought..."

"I want to see you wear it," Nepgear suddenly said.

"Uhh, what? But Nepgear, I'm pretty sure this one's too big for me," he said as he closed the cabinet. She shook her head as if she knew he was lying through his tasteful tongue.

"Heh nice try Mikey. I'm pretty sure it fits you fine. Besides, I wouldn't want your clothes getting messy from all that cooking."

"Well, I...ummm...I don't know how to tie a tie," he lied.

"I can tie it _**for**_ you."

He knew he wasn't getting out of this situation. He wasn't getting out, unless...

"PUDDING?!" he randomly yelled out, resulting in a confused look on the candidate's face. Soon they could hear rapid footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Did somebody say pudding?!" Neptune asked loudly as she darted her gaze around the kitchen.

"Well you guys need to catch up, I'm going to go get some fresh air," Mikey casually said before trying to walk out of the kitchen. Unfortunately he couldn't escape, due to someone holding him back by his shirt collar.

"Woah woah woah! Where do you think you're going pudding caller?" Neptune asked as she held him back. "I recall that you yelled out 'PUDDING' just five seconds ago."

"W-What, you must've misheard! I yelled out, uhh putting! You know how the t's and the d's sound so similar right?" Both sisters didn't sound convinced. It was clear lying was not his strong suit.

"Mikey, do you know what we do to liars?" Neptune ominously asked. "Especially, if they lie about pudding?"

* * *

"Woo! I'm beat for now," Noire commented before wiping her forehead. "Vert, when are we going to eat dinner?"

"We should be starting to cook in a couple minutes," Vert answered.

"AH! I don't want this!" a sudden distant voice could be heard from the inside. "You're going to make me lose my dignity!"

"What in the heck was that?" Uni asked. "Sounds like Mikey's shouts."

"Maybe they're cooking something," Vert suggested.

"But Neptune is in there with them," Noire mentioned.

"Boy you get that away from me! A cook shouldn't have to look like that!"

All of Mikey's blabbering only seemed to further confuse them.

"That doesn't sound like cooking," Uni skeptically said.

"Have mercy on a friend Neptune! If you were a true friend, than you would spare me!"

 _"Ha! A true friend would want to see you dressed in this!"_

* * *

 **Omake 8: A Humble Discovery**

Today was was like any other day. A common day where Neptune and Mikey usually hangout with the absence of her sister.

"Hey Neptune," Mikey said.

"Yeah?" Neptune asked.

"What's that room over there?" he inquired as he pointed to a closed door.

"Oh that's just my sister's workshop. She does gadgets and tech stuff in there," Neptune explained.

"Have you seen what's inside there?" he continued to ask with a curious look.

"Nope. Wanna go take a look?" she asked with a grin.

"Sure," Mikey said before they both got up and walked up to the door. Neptune being the main character she always was, took the job to check if the door was locked or not. Surprisingly it wasn't.

"Well that was simple," Mikey remarked before they both entered the dark room. Flicking a nearby switch, the lights came on revealing a large assortment of gadgets and techy trinkets. All of them looked interesting in their weird way.

"Nepgear sure leaves a mess around here," Mikey remarked as he picked up and put down scattered bolts and tools on the table. He noticed picture frames near a lamp. One of the pictures was of Neptune and Nepgear with the other CPUs.

"How heartwarming," Mikey remarked with a smile.

The picture next to that was him in the middle of Neptune and Nepgear. They were all sitting in the couch smiling at the camera. A similar picture was behind it, showing Mikey and Nepgear cooking something in the kitchen.

"How sweet," he remarked once again.

Next to that picture was a close up picture of him with his face zoomed in. His expression didn't look too attractive for anyone. Next to that picture, there was a picture of Neptune with a funny looking expression.

"How embarrassing."

"Hey Mikey, look what I have just found!" Neptune called out to him while holding up a head of a robot. Mikey only glanced at the head only to get incredibly freaked out.

"Woah! What is that?" Mikey said as he backed up from the head.

"Must be the head of one of those robot enemies we killed. Weird thing about these guys, their eyes still glow when detached from their main body," Neptune mentioned before putting it down. "I wonder what my sis is going to do with this?"

"Hopefully nothing that would end up killing everyone as we know it," Mikey playfully said before looking at a different part of the workshop.

"Wow, it's a spinning gear. Why's that there?"

* * *

"Neptune! Mikey! I'm home!" Nepgear announced as she walked in through the door with bags of groceries. After setting them on the table, she went to go check the couch. All she found was some leftover snacks on the table near it, along with the absence of Mikey and Neptune.

"Oh my, don't tell me they left without me."

 **CRASH**

"Oops!" said an un-concerning voice.

"Neptune! Be careful next time!" said an annoyed voice. The voices were coming from an open door in the hallway. This prompted her to investigate.

"Mikey! Neptune!" she called out as she caught the two in her workshop. They both turned back to look at her.

"Oh Nepgear you're back!" Mikey said."Yes you're back Nep Jr! We totally didn't drop anything!" Neptune said before trying to hide the object in question. Doing so resulted in her revealing more things she apparently dropped.

"Neptune!" Mikey said. These shenanigans weren't uncommon to the candidate, but she rarely seen them in her workshop.

"Well, what are you guys doing here?" she curiously asked.

"Well I just wanted to find out what my lil' sis is up to!" Neptune said.

"Yeah, I didn't know you were into tech stuff," Mikey spoke.

"Yeah I am. I happen spend a lot of time in here. Anyway, you two promised that we would go to the carnival together, so let's go!" she urged on.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Keep it serious then get that absurd Nep in there to destroy all the atmosphere. Nep will never be equally matched against other atmosphere destroyers!**_

 _ **Update: omake short sweet like candy amirite**_

 ** _I recall that the fourth wall hasn't been broken so far..._**

 ** _Will it be broken?_**


	23. Nearly Nautical Nuisance

**Chapter 23: Nearly Nautical Nuisance**

* * *

 _A random person on the street told me that everyone has evil in their hearts. That is to say, there's also good in their hearts as well. I wonder how there's good and bad guys if everyone has the bad and good stuff._

* * *

Silence ruled the room. No, not silence. Instead it was chaotic banging and cooking that ruled the little kitchen.

"Even with an apron like this, I'm still a great cook, " Mikey remarked with a satisfied smirk on his face. Satisfaction always greeted him whenever a meal was well done.

"Wrong! You're a cute cook!" Nepgear teased before taking a whiff of Mikey's culinary masterpiece. Neptune, food always on her mind, also took a whiff.

"Smells delicious Mikey!" Neptune said before opening her mouth to take a bite. Mikey took the plate away before she even got the chance. "Awwww..."

"Heh, you still gotta wait you hungry Nep," Mikey said before seeing Vert and the others enter the room. They all seemed reasonably exhausted with sweat drops on their faces.

"So that's what you guys were doing," Noire confirmed as she waltzed into the kitchen and glanced at the food. "Pretty well done job, from one esteemed cook to another."

"Thanks! I never knew you'd be the one to like my cooking," Mikey replied.

"W-Well I just happen to know good cooking when I see it. That's all," Noire said before running into Neptune. "What were you doing in here?" she suspiciously asked.

"Mikey yelled pudding, so of course I had to go!" Neptune said. "Except he's a pudding liar!"

"I don't think so," Mikey casually said. "You're an evil friend!" he accused as he sat down in exhaustion. It was worth noting, one of his greatest hobbies is one of his most exhausting ones.

"Making a friend look fabulous isn't evil," Neptune rebutted before chuckling at the sight of Miley's flowery outfit.

"Well petty evilness and great food aside, I need to get going," Vert said. "I need to go see my advisers in order to find out what we're dealing with," she explained before quickly heading off.

"Urgent matters ain't it?" Uni remarked.

"Modern Dragons and bandit dogoos make for a terribly urgent matter. The last one we fought exploded, trying to take us with it," Noire said before looking at the rest of the group.

"Yup, they do that alright," Uni sullenly said before using a fork take a bite out of his own food. "If only there was a sure fire way to rid them for good," she said before putting on a pensive expression.

"I'm not so sure if that'll be possible. That dragon 'Richard' seemed to have a personality to it. Even if it was filled with hatred and misguided anger, it didn't act like any other common mob," Nepgear added.

"Maybe we can convince them to stop. It'll be so much easier than to try to destroy them," Neptune suggested as she ate her plate of food. "They were taking orders from those meanie dogoos. If we get rid of them, maybe we can get them to stop!"

"Sounds like an odd plan to me. When was reasoning with enemies ever a viable plan?" Noire incredulously asked.

"At least we can try to do it," Nepgear said. "If it starts attacking us, we'll fight back.

"Well what are we waiting for, let's go!" Neptune announced before opening the fridge.

* * *

Everyone agreed that cleaning out the dogoos was a good start for eliminating the ongoing threat. Our crew was going to the guild to get some quests on eliminating those new bandit dogoos in the areas of Leanbox.

"So, this quest has us killing only ten dogoos," Noire read as she inspected the information. "Kinda odd don't you think?"

"But it says we have to kill desperado dogoos. Those things are terribly sneaky," Nepgear said.

"Let's find the quest with the biggest amount of enemies. We take out the biggest dogoo problem, and soon everything else will be a lot easier," Uni said before they got to work searching for the right quest. I was just standing there, intrigued by the descriptions of the quests in question.

One of the quests demanded the execution of 16 dogoos, paired up with a cryptic description of:

 **Heed my word!**

 **47 69 76 65 20 6d 65 20 74 68 65 69 72 20 6a 65 6c 6c 79 2e**

"Huh? Wonder what client posted this?" I curiously asked. Another quest asked for the destruction of 8 dogoos, paired with an even odder description of:

 **164 150 141 164 dogoo 141 164 145 my 141 163 163 056**

"What do these random combinations of numbers mean?" I asked myself once again. Turning around, I saw that Nepgear was standing in front of me, a look of glee hidden in her expression.

"Something on your mind Nepgear?" I asked before turning back to look at the peculiar quests.

"I've realized that I trained you without having you get a proper sword," she mentioned. "I was wondering if you want to pop into the store and pick up something?" she asked before twiddling with her hair.

"Sure, but don't you think I'm already better off with a ranged weapon?"

"Nonsense! A true soldier always has a backup weapon incase his main one doesn't work out for him," she lectured.

"Heh, but you know I'm still pretty bad with a swor-"

"No excuses!" she joyfully said before shushing me and dragging me off.

"Hey where are you going sis?" Neptune asked as she saw us midway through the door. My body was keeping the doors open.

"Going to get Mikey a new sword so he can be prepared for these new quests," she replied.

"Ooh a new sword? Count me in!"

* * *

 **RING**

Going through the door, a bell rung, signaling out entrance into the weapon shop.

"Oh my, is that the Planeptune sisters?" the shopkeeper asked in awe. Neptune wanting to confirm his question, jumped in front of him.

"You got that right mister! I'm Planeptune's legendary protagonist and over there is my trusty loving faithful sister!" she pointed out. Nepgear waved to the storekeeper.

"Well that's amazing! I'm just wondering though, what are you guys doing in Leanbox?" he asked before he took a gander at his own swords.

"Oh, we were just here to help Vert with a little problem she's having," she explained.

"Is that so? Well, with all those new monsters out there, there's always new prizes and loot that comes with it. I heard one of those dragons dropped a material called Luminite. Hella strong stuff," he said as he noticed me eyeing the swords.

"Why hello there. Haven't seen you around these parts. Where're you from?"

"Oh him? He's a full fledged Planeptune boy that's in the hands of us," she claimed before giving my head a good noogie.

"H-Hey!" I said as I retreated from her knuckle. "What do you mean by Planeptune boy?" I questioned.

"Whaaat? I feel you have the bestest time at our place out of any other! And besides, I bet you like us the best," she claimed again while pulling me and Nepgear close to her. The storekeeper gave a slight chuckle at the sight.

"Hehe, so the rumors about Neptune being too energetic are true," he remarked before realizing something. "B-But anyways, did you guys come here for a weapon or something?" he asked as he tried to showcase his fierce looking swords. I could've swore that some of them were freaking glowing.

"Yes yes, we need to get a sword for our friend Mikey."

"Ah, the Planeptune boy isn't it? So, Mikey, which sword enticed your inner tastebuds the most?" he asked with a smirk.

"Uhhhh..." All of them looked beautiful in their own way, but I wasn't sure whether I could handle the power of a super-glossy-super sword.

"Hmmmmm..." Only one really caught my eye. A plain looking katana, I think a dragon pattern was skillfully etched into the blade. "Maybe that one?" I pointed out.

The storekeeper took the sword off the rack, letting see the sword up close.

"This one please your eyes?" he asked as I could feel that Nepgear and Neptune were watching over me. Without a second thought, I immediately said, "Yes."

* * *

 **RING**

The bell jingled once again as we left the store. It seemed Neptune was prone to carrying a lot of these 'credits' and such, paying the storekeeper in one sweeping motion of money throwing.

"Hmm, that's weird, where did the sword go?" I curiously asked as I noticed it wasn't on me anymore.

"Oh don't worry, it must've went into your inventory," Neptune nonchalantly said.

"Inventory...?"

"You know, the area where you keep a crap load of stuff. You can call on your stuff anytime! That's why your pistol suddenly appears when you need it," she explained. This concept is appalling to me. But it must happen when you're in a different dimension.

Wonder why I didn't think about that?

"So sis, was the stuff you said to that storekeeper true?" Nepgear questioned as Neptune was eyeing the surrounding shops.

"I'm not sure, you're going to have to ask Mikey that question."

"W-What?" I saw Nepgear looking at me, her face expecting an answer. "W-Well I just think Neptune shouldn't be making wild claims like that."

"Oh Mikey, you know my claims are never wild, and IF they're wild, than they're probably true," Neptune pointed out.

"Well...maybe you're right on that part," I slowly said. "You two are sorta the best to me. B-But don't get the wrong idea now, I like everyone okay?"

"Aww, that's sweet of you to say," Nepgear said while ruffling my hair and hugging my arm. That's when the doors to the guild opened, revealing Uni and Noire with a goal in their minds.

"Enough with the dilly dallying guys! It's time for a quest!" Noire announced. "We kill four bandit lord dogoos!"

"Only four?! I thought you said we were going to take on the biggest challenge or something!" Neptune said with a confused look.

"Well the rewards for this quest are huge! You've heard of that Luminite material right? Apparently those dragons and those dogoos happen to drop it too."

"Yeah so with that in mind, quit huggin' and loving each other you too. There will be time for that later," Uni said with a wink.

* * *

"It looks like our peace and quiet will have to be interrupted," a bandit lord dogoo remarked as it adjusted its hat. It has several medals on its body and several guns in its waist area. Nobody knows what's up with dogoos acquiring and being able to use firearms.

"What in bloody hell? What do you mean mate?" another bandit lord asked in an thick Australian accent.

"I mean that we're going to fight some of those questing losers Jerry. You know how things go around here don't you?"

"Of course I know what happens mate! It's just I don't understand why this story says I have an Australian accent. I believe that's bloody bonkers Danny!"

"Its Dan, not Danny. And besides, you're from somewhere which happens to be the Gameindustri-equivalent of Australia," Dan said as he looked to the nearby rocks. "Are the other two back from their expedition?"

"Oh George and Wesley? Those buggers are coming back in a jiffy. When are the little scoundrels comin' to attack us anyway?" Jerry asked.

"Scouts say in about ten to twenty minutes. They remarked about how the four of us can probably take them out easy," Dan remarked with a cocky grin.

"Well you can't be a bloody presuming mate like that Danny! You're bloody cockiness with our adversaries always gets up knocked-up in sticky situations," Jerry called out. "Who's to say those buggers might have some power in their britches?"

"Whatever, we'll see when the time comes."

* * *

Neptune suddenly got a terrified look on her face, as if she had sensed something dangerous and terrible coming up.

"Uhh Neptune? What's wrong?" Mikey timidly asked as the girl quickly looked back toward him.

"I sensed someone or something else was breaking the fourth wall," she said with a jarring tone.

"Breaking the fourth wall? What's that?" he asked.

"Uhhh, you don't need to know! Let's keep going!"

* * *

 **Omake 9: A Present**

Mikey had a faint red blush ever since he woke up in the morning. A very special day was in place, such a day that would remind him to whom he was belonged to. You could say he felt a bit giddy, a bit excited about the whole affair. It was his first time, and he couldn't know what to do during a time like this.

"Ooooh! Nice heart chocolates!" Neptune remarked before giving off a grin. "I bet sis is going to get a nice surprise when she comes back."

"Y-You really think so?" Mikey asked as he looked back at his choco-work. He didn't know the best best gift for Nepgear, so he decided to go with the classic homemade route. Melting chocolate and making itty bitty hearts seemed like a perfectly randomly romantic idea for a present.

"Yup! Oh and by the way, you seem to be a lot more... lovey-dovey than usual," she added.

"Well I can't help it can I? Being with a girl like that for a long time just makes me feel, happy. Not sure what I'm exactly feeling though," Mikey said before putting all his chocolates in a quaint little box. By the box was a bracelet with a small but bright gem on it. To his eyes it looked wonderful.

"I think most people refer that feeling is love. As in, you probably love my sis~" she teased.

"I'm not even going to deny that," Mikey said as he put on a love struck expression. "Damn this accursed holiday for making me feel like this," he happily said.

* * *

"Oh my, that work was just tiring," Nepgear remarked before entering into the Basilicom. Working her way up, she heard some chatter going on.

"She's coming she's coming!"

"Quick! Mikey get ready!"

As she opened the door, she found her big sister immediately greeting her.

"Oh hey sis! Mikey's got something for you in the kitchen," Neptune said before moving out of the doorway.

"Something for me? Wonder what's the occasion?" she asked herself as she made her way into the kitchen.

"M-Mikey?" she asked as she saw Mikey putting on a smile while holding something behind his back.

"H-Hey Nepgear. Thought I'd treat you to something special on a day like this," he said before revealing his box, a red bow sitting on top of it.

"M-Mikey?" she repeated once again in awe as she opened the box.

"Happy Valentines love," he said before looking away in embarrassment. Emotions can make a man do anything. The girl opened the box, revealing some lot of heart chocolates with an exquisite looking bracelet nudged into the corner of the box. Immediately she put on the bracelet.

"Hey Mikey, I think you forgot something," she pointed out.

"Huh? I did?" he asked before foolishly turning around. Nepgear planted a kiss on his cheek, immensely surprising him.

"Yeah! You forgot a kiss silly!" she said before poking his nose once. She noticed how many different shades of red a man can go through. Out of the top of her mind, and a way to show Mikey her affection on her mind, she took a piece of chocolate.

"Now say 'ahhh' Mikey."

As he opened his mouth, she playfully fed him the chocolate, prompting the boy to change into an even warmer shade of red.

"And also, we can't forget about the hugs!" she said before putting him in a loving embrace. She could see the oh-so-happy look on his face.

"Love you Mikey!"

 **SNAP**

"That's another one for the books," Neptune commented as she viewed her picture. "You know what? Just to be safe!"

 **SNAP SNAP SNAP SNAP**

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: I'm not sure why certain dogoos talk and some don't. Maybe genes? I'm not totally sure why some people post bogus quests. Maybe as a cool prank? Nonetheless, I'd thank everyone once again for the support through this weird writing journey. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and had a great time reading!**_

 _ **Also, I've noticed a user has pointed out what the binary translates to in Chapter 5. They were right, but now I won't use binary anymore! Haha! Take that! I will use different numbers instead of ones and zeros! And take some letters while you're at it! Being confusing is great!**_

 ** _Update: omake added cus idea Very SHORT omake tho but they vary and stuff!_**

 **I have a freaking cold!**


	24. Quick Queued Quests

**Chapter 24: Quick Queued Quests**

* * *

 _Those dogoos seemed way too interesting. They had a petty attitude, odd accents, and a strange way of doing lots of things. Needless to say, they were much different than the rest of their kind. Wouldn't be surprised if they happened to be eccentric boss monsters._

* * *

Unlike other forests, this forest was particularly loud. The loudness was coming from all the leaves hitting against each other due to the constant stream of wind. I preferred the ominous silence of a creepy forest than to keep listening to crunchy ruffles.

"This forest seems especially noisy today," Noire mentioned as her hair was starting to be pushed by the wind. "And windy."

"Well, at least it gets your hair a good breeze," I said as I attempted to flip my hair in pride. It was too short for that though.

"Heh, nice try. You can't do something reserved for only long haired people," Noire said before flipping her hair. It looked much better than when she did it but I'm never going to admit that.

After that little exchange, we continued on strolling until we stumbled upon a huge forest opening. The ground was covered with flat flat grass, the overgrowth seemed to have overtaken the surrounding trees, providing the area with a dense shrubby wall. It looked oddly similar to a boss arena.

 _"Quick Wesley, we got to get our asses to Jerry's location!"_ said an urgent voice.

 _"Oh really now? You actually wanted to get over there after the hundredth text message?"_ said a cynical voice. Our group discovered that the voices belonged to two special looking dogoos who happened to be briskly jumping through the open area. I saw them having medals and holsters around their body.

Before we could make a move, they disappeared into the foliage.

"What was that about?" Nepgear asked.

"Those dogoos seemed to be in a hurry. I bet those were two of the four bandit lords we need to eliminate," Noire deduced as she observed the shaky leaves. "I think it's time for us to follow them," she concluded before taking a sudden stride forward.

 _"Oh it's our lads Danny! They're here they're here!"_ said a barely audible giddy voice. Everyone seemed to have heard it.

"Huh?" Noire asked in a confused manner. "They're that close?"

* * *

"About time you showed up knuckleheads! What's with you guys shouting about how you see us?" asked Dan as he gave an annoyed sigh. "You know people can hear us."

"Sorry mate, I'll lower my volume then!"

"Well anyways, what took you guys so damn long?"

"Oh exploring the caves, having fun with the weapons. You know the usual. I just don't understand why you have to insist on calling us," Wesley said.

"Cause I just need some reinforcements before things go south," Dan replied.

"Ha! South! Like that's ever going to happen! We live in the damn forest, nothing is southern here!" George laughed out.

"Silence!" Dan ordered. For a second where everyone was silent, all the dogoos heard a distinct cracking sound near them. It was as if someone stepped on a twig.

"Huh? Did I hear something?" Dan asked confusedly.

"Hear what mate?" Jerry asked.

"I think someone's here," Wesley said.

"Someone's here? Now that's southern. Wait! It must be those questers you were messaging me about!" George concluded. "They must've come in an attempt to rid the world of our fabulousness," he solemnly said.

"Well if those buggers are here, what are we to do?" Jerry asked as he jumped up and down in anxiousness. "I've read the script, and the story labeled us as the antagonists!"

"Read what script? I don't see any script here," George remarked as he looked around. "The hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the script mate! The bloody wankers who wrote this says we're the baddies!"

"Just stop talking Jerry. Let's just go catch us some questers."

* * *

"Those dogoo baddies have to be near here!" Neptune asserted as she furiously swung at the bushes with her katana.

"Neptune they're not that close," Noire said in an annoyed tone. "They're probably hiding or something."

"Hiding? Damn those sneaky dogoos. Always ambushing people," I remarked in a concerning tone.

"I hope that's not the case here," Nepgear remarked.

"Oomph!"

Suddenly a dogoo fell down onto the middle of the grassy opening. Similar to the two dogoos we saw, it was adorned with medals.

"Ow ow ow! Out of all of us, why me?" it quietly asked itself before getting up, revealing its face. "O-Oh, it-it's you guys!" it adorably squeaked out before turning its tail toward us. The only distinguishing feature I can see was its horribly adorable face.

"Is this really one of the bandit lords?" Uni incredulously asked before slowly approaching the lone dogoo. "Cause something this cute couldn't be that dangerous!"

"Watch your mouth you young lad," it talked back in a suddenly deeper not-cute tone. "Just because I'm 'cute' doesn't mean I won't put up some good fisticuffs against you sorry lots," it said in a thick Australian accent.

The dogoo quickly turned around, revealing its now hostile expression towards all of us. I guess that cuteness was part of its extremely brief facade. Uni took a step back, intimidated by a seemingly weak dogoo.

"Taking a step back eh? You scared of a little slimy lad like me?" it called out.

"N-No! Why would anyone be intimidated by some lowly forest enemies?" Uni defensively responded before drawing her weapon. "It was just we haven't seen any dogoo with a bad attitude like yours." The rest of us followed Uni, getting our weapons ready. Apparently my katana was in my hand this whole time.

"Bad attitude? Oh blimey you haven't seen the beginning of my skills. You haven't even seen my fury!"

"Doesn't matter, we can take you down no matter wha-"

"And my crack team!"

Suddenly three more dogoos popped out from the towering trees. They were all diving dramatically towards their friend, guns and swords in their slimy grips.

 **CRASH**

In a spectacular fashion, they all landed harshly around the dogoo, causing a atmospheric dust wave to come over them. All of them had oddly big weapons at their disposal. A bazooka and a sniper rifle were some of the things they had equipped.

"Well well well, what have you found here Jerry?"

"Just a couple of questing folk Danny."

"Huh? They're just girls with a scrawny looking fool. I can take them out easily," Dan said with a cocky expression. Looking at Noire, it seems she was bit annoyed with the amount of the arrogance these dogoos have.

"Hmm..." she quietly groaned out before furrowing her brow. "They seem just obnoxious," she muttered out.

"Obnoxious? We'll show you obnoxious!" a dogoo replied before speedily rushing straight at Noire. The dogoo pulled out a long sword, aiming to get a direct slash on Noire.

 **OOMPH**

Noire dodged the attack, letting the dogoo land on the ground with surprising force.

"Well, that's something," it blandly replied.

Shortly after, the whole field became a ground for quick fighting. The dogoos were bouncing and dashing with incredible maneuverability. They were so quick that none of us were able to get a hit on them. Since they were so fast, they managed to land hits and bounces on the CPUs, but none of them were critical.

"AAAH!" a dogoo lunged at me, sword in hand.

"AH SHIT!" I yelled out as I pulled up my sword to block its attack. It wasn't enough however, as the dogoo went for another stab. My reflexes were on my side luckily, so I managed block the attack once again.

The dogoo growled in anger as it recoiled back, now being a safe-looking distance away from me.

"Heh. Thought you might be slower," it snidely remarked before pulling out a cylindrical object. "Nonetheless a man can't fight if he can't SEE!" it laughed about before chucking a flash grenade straight toward my eyes. I immediately looked away, but it was barely any help.

 **BANG**

Light covered my sights, making me blind to everything for a short while.

"AH! What the hell?!" I yelled out as I blindly tried to navigate my surroundings. The light subsided eventually, allowing to slowly get my eyes back to normal shape. The first thing I could see was a grinning dogoo with another grenade in its slimy grip.

"Heh. Looks like they do work!" it happily remarked before pulling the pin off the grenade. "Let's see if you can fight against this."

 **POP**

The grenade made a large popping noise before detonating into a large gray opaque smoke covering the dogoo until it was practically invisible. As I looked around I noticed more smoke near the others.

"They're hiding in their smoke!" Noire called out.

"What? How're we going to fight them now?" Neptune asked as she looked straight at the growing smoke. Just as she said that, four flash-bangs were chucked out from the smoke. Each one of the stun grenades heading straight towards each one of us.

"Everyone cover your eyes!" Noire shouted out. As I curiously looked at what I was supposed to look away from. I yelped out and swung my sword directly at the approaching grenade.

 **CLANG**

Instead of slicing through the grenade and exploding it right in my face, the thing simply flew right back at the smoke.

 **BANG BANG BANG**

"So bright!" Nepgear called out as the blinding effects wore off.

 **BANG**

In the smoke, a bright light was present for a split second.

"Ah shit! One of them deflected our flashes back at us!" one dogoo pointed out.

"It's alright mate, there's plenty more where that came from," another dogoo remarked.

 **FRRRROOOOOOOOOMMM**

Out from the smoke, a big glaring rocket was blasting off at incredible speed. It nearly hit us, but instead it hit the trees behind us, leaving behind a gigantic-

 **BOOOOOM**

 _"Take aim Jerry!"_

 **BAAANG**

A small bright flash came from the smoke, signifying a bullet has been fired at top speed. It zoomed past my ear, almost grazing me, and got a direct hit Neptune.

"Ow! That actually hurt!" she cried out before getting super close to the smoke.

 **BAAANG**

"Woah!" Another shot was fired, but it didn't hit its target.

"We can't defeat them if we can't see them!" Uni advised as she was trying to find something to stop the four dogoos. On the ground near my feet, I noticed a small fragmentation grenade that wasn't used yet.

"One of them must've dropped it," I remarked before doing what anyone in a first person shooter would've done.

Blindly chuck a grenade into the smoke.

 **BOOM**

 _"AH!"_

 _"CRAP!"_

 _"OH BUGGER!"_

All four dogoos were promptly blown out far of their smoke area, vulnerable to attack from all sides.

"There they are!" Nepgear called out before the rest of the gang got to work on finishing the injured dogoos. They were slashing, calling out moves I never heard before, and skillfully dodging as they continually weakened the dogoos.

"Oh no lady, I meant no harm!" a dogoo begged as it desperately tried to parry against Noire's attacks.

"Oh mate this ain't fair at all!" another dogoo remarked as he was fending off Uni and Nepgear.

"We've been caught totally off guard! This shit has gone off the rails!" the other two dogoos angrily remarked as they had a hard time fighting off Neptune. "Dan! This is serious!"

I noticed the dogoo fighting Noire was nodding to the others before continuing to guard against her. That's when that dogoo gave an odd signal, making its comrades do something particularly weird. Each of them took bundles of grenades in their hands, and proceeded to brutally slash them with their weapons.

 **BANG BOOM POP**

A combination of a flash, an explosion, and a puff of smoke all occurred at the same time. Since it was right in front of everyone, everyone became blinded once again.

"Ah! This again!"

"Quick quick! We gotta make a run for it!"

 _When the flash and the smoke quickly subsided, the dogoos weren't there anymore._

* * *

 **Omake 10: Nightly Routine**

In the silence of darkness, one girl tries to rest through the unusually noisy night.

 _"Woooo! Let's get this marathon started for realsies!" shouted a loud voice._

Nepgear was trying to get her sleep, but the task was much too difficult under her current circumstances. Noisy music, panicked shouting, it seems like there was a whole rambunctious party going on down there.

"Oh geez, how long have they been at it..?" she slowly asked herself as she took a slow peak at her clock. "Two o'clock in the morning, have I been up this long?" she complained as she went back into her blankets.

 **BOOOM**

 _"Ha, you foolishly triggered my trap!"_

 _"Awwww man!"_

Trying to fall asleep was definitely out of the question. Loud explosions, intensive grinding, all sorts of noises radiated throughout the Basilicom to keep any sane person awake. With the intensity of the supposed gaming session down there, it seems as though the session will last through the whole entire night.

At least these types of things only happen on a rare occasion, so Nepgear figured that she can probably bear with the loud burden for the night. After the whole chaotic party is over, she is sure to give Mikey and her sister a proper scolding, but in the meantime, all she can do was just stare up at the ceiling.

It was odd though, every time she tried closing her eyes, something extremely strange was being said.

 _"I bet you can't lick your own nose!"_

As she closed her eyes once again.

 _"Heh heh! Step right up so I can knock you down Noire!"_

 _"Correction. It'll be me knocking you down!"_

"Oh this is pointless," Nepgear groaned out as she started to get up in her bed. Looking at the pitch black darkness and hearing the seemingly endless chaotic noises, she already came to a clear conclusion.

 _The two hosts, Mikey and Neptune, must be stopped._

* * *

"Another game?" Neptune asked as she pulled up another game in anticipation. The ones responsible for most of the vocal noise included Noire, Uni, and especially Mikey and Neptune. The other crazy ass noises came from the games.

Noire and her sister came from Lastation for just a visit, but Neptune managed to pull them into a nightlong gaming marathon. Strangely enough, for a nightly marathon, all the lights were turned on.

"Hell yeah!" Mikey agreed as he drank another can of NepBull instantly. "I feel like I can take on the sun after beating you!" he happily proclaimed.

"Oh is that so champ? Well lemme tell you I was just holding back. Don't expect any easy ones from me anymore!" she replied back before shooting him a mischievous grin.

"I've been wondering, shouldn't Nepgear be joining us?" Uni asked.

"She said she needed to go to sleep, so I bet she's probably sound asleep right now. She can sleep through anything," Neptune claimed.

"Don't think that's possible with the volume you're setting the games at," Noire pointed out as she viewed the volume settings. All the settings were set all the way to max.

"Whaaaat? You got a problem with that?"

"Heh, of course not my dear Nep. After all, I need to take advantage of everything I can if I were to have an easy time beating you," Noire said before lifting her controller up. All of them followed suit as the game title came up.

"Mikey," Uni said.

"Hmmm? Yes?" he replied back.

"Good luck, because we all know you're going to need it" she advised with a small grin before poking his nose.

"Hey! No one does that to me!" Mikey defensively said as he rubbed his nose.

"I bet you let Nepgear do that to you all day," she teased.

"W-What! That's ridiculous!" he rebutted as he looked at the TV.

 **SNAP**

Suddenly, all the lights including the TV were turned off, leaving the room to be pitch dark.

"Wait wait wait-AH!"

"Hey hey who are you!? What the Nep!"

Noire and Uni could hear faint yells from Neptune and Mikey, but with the lights out, the two weren't sure where the voices came from.

 **SNAP**

Just moments after that, the lights came right back on, lighting the whole room back up. Everything seemed to be the same, except Mikey and Neptune were now absent.

"What the? Where did they go?" Noire curiously asked.

"Oh those two won't be here anymore," said a familiar voice. The two turning towards the voice, they found Nepgear standing in front of them in her pajamas. She had a quaint smile on her face, as if she had removed a weight off her shoulders.

"Nepgear, where did Mikey and your sister go?" Uni asked.

"Oh, those lovely two?" she began as she put an innocent smile on.

"They had to go to bed."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: New chapter with grenades and stuff. Thanks for the amazing support with dogoo adventures. Have a fun and beautiful time reading and/or writing!**_

 _ **Very annoying enemies to deal with. Them dogoos learning how to use grenades, specialized tactics, and other cool stuff.**_

 _ **If only there was surefire to beat them up for good! But like most problems, there's no easy answer.**_

 _ **At least that Jerry fellow is still alive.**_

 ** _Update: Omake added while I was sick sorry for the late update!_**


	25. Crummy Craving Cards

**Chapter 25: Crummy Craving Cards**

* * *

 _If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, blame Neptune, then fix it. If it's fixed, take credit and eat a bagel._

 _None of this has anything to do with the current chapter. Always be like Neptune._

 _Off topic._

* * *

"Aww rats! Those dogoos escaped right under our noses!" Neptune said in disappointment as she was trying to explore the nearby bushes. "And they aren't even hiding in bushes anymore! This is terrible!" she falsely cried out.

"Oh hold your horses Neptune, at least we showed them the superior fighters around these parts," Noire said as she put away her weapon. "Such a shame though, completion of the quest will probably have to wait."

"Do you think the dogoos are going to come back?" I asked as I scratched my head. The forest area was awkwardly silent when the dogoos retreated.

"Probably, I heard those dragon baddies are still out here. It would be logical for them to return for their monstrous pets," Uni explained as I saw her give me grin.

"Hey, what's that smile for?" I asked skeptically as she was giggling afterward.

"O-Oh, nothing nothing! Something funny came up in my head, is all," she explained before showing an even wider grin. "You always give off such girly screams," she remarked with a chuckle.

"What? No I don't," I asserted as I tried to put on a serious expression. "I never scream a-at anytime," I said as I lied through my teeth.

"Mikey!"

"AH!" A girly scream was let out for my mouth as I was surprised to see Nepgear was already behind me. "I-I mean, what is it Nepgear?"

"Are you ok?" she worriedly asked as she started inspecting my arms first for any glaring injuries.

"Yeah, I don't feel anything wr-EE!" Suddenly I felt a sharp pain on the elbow of my right arm. Looking at it, there was a long vertical cut along the forearm reaching to the elbow. "How in the world did that get there?"

"Oh my goodness, that wound can get infected at any moment!" Nepgear warned as she took my arm and examined it closely. "We gotta get you back and disinfect it asap!" she urgently said.

"Wait, disinfect it? How are you going to do that?"

* * *

We all ran back to the Leanbox's Basilicom. Vert wasn't there, so all of us made ourselves comfortable as we rested from our recent skirmish. I wish I could say the same for me because right now I'm being tormented by endless amounts of healing pain.

"It stings!" I flinched in pain as I felt a sharp burning sting on my cut as I felt something wet go over it.

"Don't worry Mikey, this is only temporary," Nepgear assured before I saw her get out more first aid kits. "You'll be fine in no time."

"T-Thanks Gear. I appreciate it," I said to her with a slight smile as I immediately flinched once again when I felt a moist sensation rubbing against my wound.

"Oh no problem. Caring for you is just one byproduct of being with someone like you," she teased before I felt some bandages being wrapped around my arm. In less than a minute or so, the process was done, letting my arm move normally without all that stingy annoying pain to bug me anymore.

When I finally got a good look around at the four of us, I've noticed that the five of us was just idly sitting around, not doing anything at the moment. Looking at the nearby rooms, I could make out computers, game boxes, and posters.

"Hey Neptune, is Vert a gamer?" I curiously asked.

"Well, if you consider an MMO as a game, then sure! She spends way too many times on those types of games. She probably won't let you on her computer after what I did," she said before putting on a ditzy smile.

"What did you do Neptune?" Uni asked.

"While I was over here for a visit, Vert had to leave for something. What she didn't realize was that she left her computer logged into her favorite MMORPG game. I, being the curious Nepper I was, decided to go on there and sell everything she had," she ended with a mischievous smile.

"What?! That's hella cruel!" I called out.

"Hey, that snake Vert got it coming when she deleted my one hundred percent save on PaperNep!" she refuted.

"Such a cutthroat environment in the gamer world," Noire remarked before seeing Neptune rummage through some miscellaneous boxes. "Neptune, what are you doing?"

"Well I'm bored, so I gotta find some game to play," she replied before pulling out a small black box. On the lid, a colorful logo was inscribed on top of it. It has words on it, which read: Nep-Nee-Yo!

"Nep-Nee-Yo? What you got there Neppy?" Nepgear pointed out.

"Oooh, it's that card game that's been trending recently! Does Vert have a card box?" Uni asked, eager to know. Neptune opened the box, revealing an enormous stack of cards with the backs face up.

"Oh my Nep, she has all these cards at her disposal!" Neptune observed as she was intrigued as she inspected the cards. "You know, all of these cards can probably make for an interesting game," she suggested.

"Probably? Let's make that a reality!" Uni said as she went over and took all the cards out of the box. "Man, there's enough to make like ten decks with these!"

"Really?" I went over to the box to look at the cards myself. Lo and behold, I saw something that was too similar to what I've seen before. Monster cards, spell cards, trap cards, all of these cards reminded me of a card game that I love to play at home. "Wow, these cards look amazing. And look at the effects of this one!" I eagerly said as I showed Neptune a card.

"Yoink! That card is going to be in my collection," she said as she snatched the card from my hand. It wasn't long before Noire and Nepgear joined in to see what all the fuss was about.

"You guys play with cards?" Noire asked in disbelief. "Aren't these games for children and such?"

"No! They're for ages eight and up and we happen to be eight and up!" Neptune denied as she got a little stack of cards.

"Come on sis, I remember you playing this a long time ago," Uni reminded her before showing her all the colorful card designs.

"Even if I do want to play, I'm not so sure if I can play these types of games though. I remember them having lots of rules," Noire said as Neptune happened to be going through every card that was taken out.

"Heh, so you're saying that I, Neptune the super amazing protagonist, can beat a self-proclaimed game master such as yourself?" Neptune asked as she taunted her with a gleaming smile.

"What? No. I didn't say that you assuming Nepper!" Noire replied defensively.

"I bet I can beat you with both my arms tied behind my back," the purple goddess claimed. Nobody believed her.

"There you go making those wild claims again. It's obvious though, isn't it? This game requires foresight and strategy. I happen to possess a hefty amount of both," Noire claimed as she took some cards.

"What are you saying? That I also have amazing foresight and strategy?"

"What? I didn't even say that! You know what Neptune? I challenge your pudding self to a duel!" the goddess challenged as she pointed straight at her. A duel huh? Such a cool sounding word for two playing card games against each other.

"W-What? A duel? Before we do that can I get a partner?"

"Nope, now it isduel orlose! Which one are you going to pickNepster?"

* * *

With my brief time being here, the CPUs have shown a lot about themselves. Goddesses or humans, I was wondering what their personality leaned more toward to. Were they humans who enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, or were they godlike, where their goal is always to achieve the greater good.

If it's the latter, then I probably can't even fit in. The three of us were sitting in a different room, not wanting to interrupt the card game between Noire and Neptune.

"So Mikey, I heard you were from another world. Mind telling us a little bit about it?" Uni inquired as Nepgear was wanting to listen in on this too.

"A little bit about it? I guess I can tell you some differences I see between this world and my world," I started off. "How many continents does your world have?"

"Oh Gamindustri? We have four," answers Uni. "Are you saying your whole world is united by one continent?"

"More the opposite, we have seven continents that are sparsely spread out all over my world."

"Spread out? Hmm, are they ruled by some higher power like goddesses or something like that?"

"Well, our continents are divided up into little bits of land called countries, and I guess we have normal humans rule over those. All of us over there are just regular, powerless humans," I admitted.

"And your world is still functioning?"

"Yeah I suppose. We really are sort of resilient folk. Even if we don't have powers, I guess we can run a civilized world just fine."

"Interesting. I wanna see how that would work out," Uni mentioned.

"Wait wait! Do you guys have robots and advanced technology over there?" Nepgear quickly asked.

"I-I don't think we're as advanced as you guys, but we're making progress. Lots of progress. Back home, I guess we have the phone and such. We've come a long way to get where we are now," I explained.

"D-Do you guys still keep your old technology?"

"I guess we preserve them in museums. But I suppose we preserve lots of stuff in museums, like antique firearms."

"Antique firearms?" both of them asked in unison. "How old?" they asked in excitement.

"Back to the ages where you can fire only one bullet at a time."

"A musket! I've heard of those but I never saw one. My collection was most in need of a weapon like that," Uni commented.

"Such old technology, who knows about the wonders behind it that kickstarted the progress we have now?" Nepgear said with a star-struck look. "Your world sounds great. I hope we can visit it sometime," she said with a hopeful smile.

"But in the mean time~" An evil smirk took over Uni's face. "Let's talk about the situation between you guys."

"Between me and Mikey? I feel the situation is just great," she stated as I felt a blush coming on.

"What about you Mikey? How do you feel?" Uni asked me as she tried to contain her giggles.

"Well, I-I feel... that the situation between us is..." I paused to think of a random adjective. "Beautiful," I spat out.

Beautiful? Is that all you can come up with brain?! Or was it the author who put that word into my head?!

"Ha! Beautiful!" Uni laughed out.

"AHH! Somebody broke the fourth wall!" Neptune yelled out from the other room.

* * *

"Really Neptune you have to yell that out?" Noire said in an annoyed tone as she put down a card on the table.

"Whaaaat? I call it like I sense it," she nonchalantly said.

"And I call it like I see it, and I see that you've just lost the game," Noire said before giving off a smile in triumph.

"W-W-What?! Nepu! Impossible!" Neptune shouted out in utter awe. "Noire why you have to be so mean!"

"What, me being mean? I just defeated you that's all."

"You could've let me win," she complained before standing up. Her stomach was growling loudly. "Oh, I'm hungry! I need to get Mikey so he can cook me something!"

"Maybe you should try cooking something yourself," Noire suggested before realizing what a Neptune could do in a kitchen. "On second thought, you should go get Mikey."

"Okie dokie!" Neptune said before knocking on the door to the room where Mikey and the candidates were. Without a quick response, she immediately opened the door only to see something she thought she would never see.

"Oh my Nep, where did you get that pudding?" she pointed out as the three people were sitting next to each other, taking bites of pudding with their small spoons. She noticed Nepgear was leaning on Mikey.

"Found it," Mikey said as he took another spoonful.

"F-From where?" she asked.

"The box below our chair. It was open so the three of us helped ourselves," he explained. As Neptune quickly reached to grab a cup, she felt a piece of paper in the box. Grabbing it and pulling it out, she found a pudding coupon that makes all pudding purchases fifty percent cheaper.

"Looks like Neptune always wins in the end!" she said before putting her coupon in the air. _"Looks like we're going out once again!"_

* * *

 **Omake 11: He Moved**

It was a nice and refreshing feeling. The feeling of serenity, the feeling of peace surrounding you where ever you go. You had no worries, no issues to be concerned about. All you need to know is what you're going to do today. In a paradise like this, only the present exists.

For Mikey, being alone was a new refreshing experience. A breath of fresh air. He was living in a quaint house near the outskirts of Leanbox, joyfully living a peaceful life.

Everyday he woke up, he cooked up his own hearty breakfast. In the afternoons, he would take long walks in the forests, admiring nature and befriending nearby monsters like dogoos. In the early evenings, he would go out to his porch and water his elegant plants. When the night begins to set in, he would just sit on his porch, admiring the horizon as the day goes down and the night comes up.

Before he goes to bed to end his day, he would always look at a mirror, only to find the same fulfilled smile he has seen for the past couple days he's been living here.

"I hope tomorrow brings me another swag-filled day," he happily remarked before heading off to bed.

* * *

"Historie! Where's Mikey? He's supposed to buy me that special edition pudding when I got back!" the purple goddess complained as she went up to the book fairy.

"What? Back from your gaming session? I recall that you're supposed to use your powers for good, not just for petty gaming," Historie advised with a disapproving look. "And besides, Mikey isn't even here right now."

"What?! What do you mean he's not here?" Neptune questioned as she started to worry.

"I mean, the boy got out couple days ago," Historie clarified.

"What?! Why on Nep would you let Mikey do that? You know he can't survive this world without giving me pudding," Neptune said as she glanced at the vacant couch.

"Well, he said he needed a break from all the crazy stuff happening recently. I don't think being with you is going to achieve that goal, so I sent him off to Leanbox to relax. Sort of like a vacation," Historie explained.

"Vacation? Everyone knows that you can't spell vacation without Neptune. I gotta go find and confront him!" Neptune announced as Historie started to have a worried look.

"Now Neptune, no need to be rash. He'll come back in a week," the book fairy assured.

"A week? I can't wait that Nepping long!"

As Neptune was continually complaining about the absence of her personal pudding fetched, Nepgear was just returning from an unbearably long quest. Being caught up with all the questing parts, she just stumbled upon the conversation between Neptune and Historie.

"H-Hey guys, what are you two talking about?" she asked both of them curiously.

"Nep Jr! Mikey ditched us!" Neptune announced out loud to her sister.

"Ditched us? Why would he ever do that?" Nepgear asked in disbelief.

"I have no clue, but I do know one thing. We gotta get him back here!" the goddess proclaimed. "You with me Gear?"

"Well, uhm, maybe we should check if he's here. Who knows, he might be dozing off or something," Nepgear suggested. Neptune shook her head.

"During this time of day, Mikey would be on that couch. But he isn't. Therefore he is not here," she deduced.

"That's what I've been telling you," Historie remarked before rolling her eyes. "He's going to come back in a week, so both of you shouldn't fret about this."

After that statement, the two sisters looked at each other, debating in their minds whether they should interrupt Mikey's vacation or just stay where they are. For Neptune, the choice was obvious.

"Let's go sis!"

* * *

Oh my, Neptune and Nepgear! What a pleasant surprise," Vert remarked as she saw the two strolling in Leanbox. She caught their attention, leading the sisters to follow her into a small cafe. They joined her in a table. "What brings you two here?" she asked.

"Oh, we're trying to find our Mikey," Nepgear started. "He seems to have left Planeptune."

"Yup! Historie says he's somewhere in Leanbox, so using my protagonist mind powers, I figured I would come to you for some info."

"Mikey huh? I recall somebody bringing him to the outskirts of Leanbox. I thought it was some questing matter, so I didn't look into it. It was weird though, I would expect Mikey to be accompanied by you two," Vert explained.

"That's right. Mind if you help us find his place?" Neptune asked.

"Sure, it would be nice for me to see Mikey again.

* * *

"Mmmm! As always my cooking prowess has not wavered one bit!" Mikey remarked as he finished up his lunch. As he prepared to water his plants, he noticed a couple of figures in the far distance.

"Huh, that hasn't been there before," he commented as he squinted his eyes to get a better look. As the figures got closer and closer, Mikey started to notice familiar features of people he knew. It wasn't long before he knew what was up.

"Neptune and Nepgear. When did those two get here?" he asked himself as he noticed Vert on the left of the sisters. When he blinked, the three girls were gone from his sight.

"Huh? Where did they go?" He looked around, only to find just plain green grass with no one on it. "Must've been just my imagination I suppose." He shrugged off before preparing to water his plants. Going to the front porch and watering his flowers, the boy glanced at a nearby cherry tree.

"Caught you green handed!" yelled out Neptune. The boy immediately looked to see who was on his front porch.

"Yeah, that's right! We're here to take you back!" she announced.

"And become a pudding assistant? No way!" Mikey denied as he gave off a cocky smile.

"Hmmmm! Well, then... what about my sister?" Neptune pointed out.

"What about Gear?" he asked.

"Did you leave because you didn't want to be with us?" Nepgear said before giving off a fake sob.

"What! No no no, it has nothing to do with you guys!" Mikey reassured.

"You're saying you want nothing to do with us? I never knew I fell in love with such a cruel man," the candidate solemnly said as she feigned tears.

"Now what's that supposed to mean?" he asked, bewildered by how his words got twisted.

"It means," she said before transforming into Purple Heart, "you'll have to deal with me!"

Mikey immediately paused what he was doing.

"Uh oh."

* * *

I can now say that justice and order have been restored," Purple Heart remarked with a satisfied smile.

"But you accidentally knocked Mikey out..." IF pointed out as Mikey was laying in the bed, unconscious. "Don't think there's any justice there."

"Maybe having Mikey back restores all the order," Nepgear added as she put her hand on Mikey's forehead.

"And this is the part where I say I told you so," Historie remarked.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Just a little bit of a relaxation chapter to ease the everything. I wanted to congratulate everyone on our milestone of reach 20k views. So many readers have been reading this, and I just want to express my gratitude to you all!**_

 _ **Have a beautiful time reading!**_

 _ **update: omake added**_

 _ **suggest some omake ideas** **don't** **you wha** t_


	26. Pestering Pressing Past

**Chapter 26: Pestering Pressing Past**

* * *

 _I never knew him much, he always went out a lot. The only true instance of getting to know him turned out to be the worst impression._

* * *

They were all hanging out, sitting at the tables set up outside of the pudding shop. Neptune had just went in to redeem her coupon while the rest of them sat outside, chatting about current matters. It was apparent however, that the whole Mikey's brother situation was still on everyone's mind. With past experience to back them up, they definitely knew Leon was the culprit.

 **SLAM**

Suddenly the pudding shop doors were slammed open, stopping the conversation midway.

"UGH! I'VE BEEN NEPPED!" Neptune shouted out as she stomped out of the pudding shop. "This coupon expired a week ago!" she said in disgust as she faced all her friends at the table. They all looked at her with indifferent expressions not wanting to incur her pudding-deprived wrath.

"Oh the coupon expired?" her sister asked out as she stood back up.

"Yup! It's no fair," she pouted afterward before taking a seat with us. "So, what were you guys talkin' about? Neppy wants to know," she said while putting on a forward smile. And with that little interruption, the conversation continued.

As words went on and on, Mikey started to develop a pensive expression. On his face, a feeling of regret had been plastered on, replacing his usual smile with an indifferent frown. He was pondering about his relationship with his brother, but instead of finding an answer, he came to a haunting realization.

"To think I only truly met him not so long ago..." he uttered in lament. Nepgear was first to take notice of this odd comment.

"Truly met him? What do you mean Mikey?" the candidate pressed on curiously.

"I may not have told you this, but to tell you the truth, I barely barely knew my brother back home," he solemnly spoke.

"Barely knew each other? But you guys are brothers! Surely you were together near childhood right?" Neptune asked.

"Well, even to the point where I can even remember, my brother was at the age where he can go out into the world. Maybe seven or eight? He always went with my father in his frequent business trips. Never really got to bond with him, or play with him, or never really met him on a personal level."

"Did you find it surprising that your brother was pure evil?" Uni asked as she put on a serious expression.

"Well, yes I was incredibly surprised. I never would've expected he had all this pent up resentment towards me until the day he kidnapped me. My dad was always mentioning on how helpful or smart my brother was whenever he was at home," he explained as he had an increasingly disappointed look. "As a kid, I would get incredibly jealous of what he had. Out of pure pettiness, I would tell my mom whenever he did anything that appeared sketchy. It really annoyed him, causing him to usually avoid me when possible."

"But, if you guys are so far apart, why is he so intent on hurting you?" Nepgear asked with a worrisome look.

"The weird thing is, I felt like he's trying to restrain himself from gravely wounding me. Back in the kidnapping, he mentioned how he would keep me alive in a cruel sense. Kind of weird for a guy who's hellbent on destruction don't you think?" he sarcastically asked before giving off an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, one of those dragons did mention about acquiring you or something. Maybe he does want you alive," Noire added.

"Even if we know that, why are you telling us all this Mikey?" Uni asked.

"For starters, I feel kind of safe confiding this info to you guys," he sheepishly started off. "Simple as that. You girls seem like good people I truly trust in this world," he stated before looking down, not wanting to see the looks on their faces.

"Is that so? Well, that's a bit touching coming from you," Noire said before putting on a small smile. The statement made him look up in surprise.

"Heh, we got your back Mikey," Uni added before putting up a thumbs up. The next one turned his initial frown into a small smile.

"Yupperoni! Protagonists like us will always be there in your times of need!" Neptune claimed.

"If that's the case, then we will try our best into stopping your evil brother and getting to the bottom of this. It pains me to hear you suffering from sibling issues for such a long time," Nepgear said before standing up with a stern expression. Everyone nodded in agreement. "But in the mean time..." she started before rushing up and hugging Mikey from behind, "it's going to be okay." The boy's face soon turned into a reddening expression of embarrassment.

"Ha!" Neptune laughed out as she witnessed the mushy sight. "Who needs your brother if you got us am I right?" she joked.

"Yeah I suppose, I never really knew him that well," Mikey said. For now, the worries he had are behind him. Getting this type of information off his chest really lightens the load and the overall mood.

"Well, we don't know the next time those bandit lorddogoos will show up. Let's say we find Vert and get her help once again?" Noire suggested.

* * *

One question always remains in my mind. The hatred, the disgust coming from my flesh and blood. Where did it all come from? It seemed so unnatural, but it seemed as though it was there for a good reason. Bah, I'd probably never find the answer just by thinking.

Maybe next time I meet him, I'll ask. In the meantime however, we got to find Vert. It just so happens that we found her when we returned to the Basilicom.

"Oh my, I've been wondering when you guys will show up," Vert remarked. "I had to do some field investigation, meaning I was out a couple hours ago. So, did you find out anything new?"

"We find it possible that the leaders of the dogoos that were in charge of the dragons have a direct connection with Mikey's brother. We fought them but they escaped," Noire explained.

"Ah, so the data matches. Lots of questers reported seeing dogoo leaders in the forests recently. Maybe those are the ones we're looking for."

"That's right! Now the question is where in the hecks are those dogoos gonna be?" Neptune asked.

"Well, that should be an easy task. I discovered that their locations should be by the place where we fought the modern dragon. Many people have sighted large concentrations of dogoos there," Vert pointed out.

"We should go there and put an end to this before this threat gets any bigger," Uni advised before the others nodded in agreement.

"Yes, let's take out another danger once and for all," Nepgear asserted.

* * *

Near the site where they fought the metallic dragon of death, the six people walked carefully, alert and aware of their potentially perilous surroundings. It was a bit peculiar though, not a single enemy was to be found in that area.

"Large groups of dogoos? More like no groups of dogoos," Uni remarked as they turned to the nearby battleground for clues. "Maybe this battle site can provide us on their whereabouts."

"Really? I see nothing but ground marks and explosion remnants," Mikey pointed out. "Most of this ground was charred from that dragon."

"Maybe one of those slimy dogoos dropped something we didn't see yet. You know how small they are," Neptune said as she began surveying over the ground. Mikey thought doing this was an inefficient idea, so he figured he would look at the spot that would most likely contain an enemy.

"That big ass crater might be a good start," Mikey noted as he walked over to the charred piece of the hole. It wasn't that big in depth and diameter, but it still had a pretty considerable size. As he hopped into the hole, he noticed a shine coming off from something in the crater. Squatting down to get a better look, he found a pair of keys with a little dogoo figure acting as a keychain.

"Mikey, nick anything good?" Noire asked.

"Well, I got some dogoo keys, could that be a clue?" he cluelessly asked as he jingled the keys around. The others gathered around him in order to inspect his newly found trinket.

"How odd, there doesn't appear to be any keyhole around here," Vert said.

"Ooooh this sounds like some sort of convoluted puzzle we have to go through!" Neptune suggested as she took a quick view around.

"Now why would there be a puzzle in a forest?" Mikey asked skeptically.

"I dunno, maybe the enemies wanted to intellectually challenge us?"

* * *

In a hill overlooking the battleground area, four specially marked dogoos were spying on the goddesses.

"Oh no lads, those folks have my freaking keys!" Jerry called out in disappointment as he watched the group inspect his odd taste in keychains.

"And to think you dropped it in the middle of a crater. Amazing," Dan commented with a chuckle.

"Oi mate this ain't no laughing matter! Without those keys I can't unlock my stash of crumpets and my brutish arms," Jerry talked in a radically different accent.

"Well how do we suppose we get it then? Those guys almost beat us last time, and they have another girl to join them," Wesley pointed out. "Gotta admit, the new lady got some bigger fun factors if you catch my drift."

"I'm not here to catch any drift you sorry lot. I need those keys, or master is going to be so pissy about my sorry arse!"

"Maybe we can try to distract them and lure them to somewhere else?" George asked.

"A distraction huh? Hey Jerry, go down there and distract 'em."

* * *

And just as we were trying to find where the keys were used for, another random ass dogoo fell down from the sky, plopping its face right into the rocky ground.

"Oh no not this again," I said out loud before the dogoo showed its face. It happened to look very similar to the dogoo that landed abruptly the first time. Instead of an angry expression though, he had a great big smug look.

"If brains were food, you'd starve!" it called out before sticking out its tongue toward all of us.

"What the, it's you again!" Noire called out before every one of us drew our weapons. Looking at the dogoo, it seems he was also well equipped for the situation.

"Could this be a boss fight with only one of you guys now?" Uni asked as she took aim with her gun.

"Heh, I wish mate but life ain't going to be that easy you thieving buggers. Before I get royally attacked up the arse, I might as well introduce myself to clear some shite up." It cleared its threat.

"The name's Jerry you sorry lots. Designated sniper and lad protector of the Slimetastic Four. Beautiful accents and drinking tea is my game."

"The Slimetastic Four? Is that what you call your little dogoo group of four?" Nepgear asked.

"Damn straight bugger. But don't go being a presuming bastard and assume we only got four mates at our disposal. Trust me mate, we got a lot more ruffians than you could ever handle. Some might consider our group the S-Rank enemies of this area," Jerry pridefully stated. "But now that you're all up to speed with us, we will have to be going now."

"What? Why?"

"One do you lads foolishly dropped the keys back into that scalding hole. My other mates were able to retrieve it before you got anything to do with it!" it taunted before everyone looked behind themselves. They saw those same dogoos alright. "Welp, cheerio I suppose," it said before rapidly bouncing away.

"Oh hell no we're letting you guys get away again! Chase them!"

* * *

 **Omake 12: Crazed Mechanist**

Ever since Mikey and Neptune discovered that abandoned dungeon, Nepgear hasn't been the same ever since. The dungeon in question wasn't actually just some ordinary monster-infested dungeon, but instead it was a decrepit robot disposal site. People would usually dump their old technologies into these depositories in the past, leaving obsolete and forgotten relics to rust and break down with time.

There weren't any enemies there for Mikey and Neptune to fight, so Mikey decided to bring some old robot parts back home to show to Nepgear. He knew she was a tech geek, so he figured she could do something useful with it.

This lovely gesture, however, turned out to be an odd mistake. Ever since Nepgear acquired the old parts from the two of them, they never really see her go out of her workshop.

"How long has it been Neptune?" Mikey asked as he turned off the TV.

"I think it's been two days already. Who knew my sister could work through two nights huh?" Neptune asked with an impressed look.

"Should we go check on her?" the boy asked, itching to find out what she was doing.

"Well, Nep Jr. has a very big passion for robotics and such. Maybe it's a bad idea to interrupt her work. I did it once and oh boy, it wasn't so pretty," Neptune warned before laying back on the couch.

"I guess your right on that point. I just hope she doesn't spend too much time in there. Who knows what toll it can have on someone's sanity."

And the two of them left it at that. During the day, sounds of screwing, banging, and burning could be heard from the workshop. They figured it was just some hard work going on, so they ignored it. The next day, Neptune brought home a batch of ultra rare pudding for everyone to share. Only sold once every year and limited to only one batch per customer, this type of pudding had an extraordinary taste compared to other types.

"Wow, how... did you get that?" he asked in awe as he pointed at the labels. Ultra rare pudding, the flavor's so good it'll knock you out.

"A little bit of persuading and a little bit of helping. It all works out in the end Mikey, because we all get PUDDING!" she excitedly said before immediately taking one cup. Mikey followed suit.

It didn't take a pudding connoisseur to know that this was undoubtedly one of the best treats they ever had. Such perfect balance, such perfect sensation of ultra light goodness in your mouth, truly a percentage of mankind was led to this achievement in pudding history. As Neptune went into the kitchen to get something, Mikey figured that Nepgear should also try it.

It's been three days so far and strangely enough, he hasn't seen her out of her workshop once. Maybe giving her some pudding might speed up the work process. Food always kickstarts Mikey's brain, who says it can't kickstart hers?

With flawless logic being set in his mind, he knocked on the door to her workshop, a cup of ultra rare pudding in his hand. After a few seconds, he got no answer. Instead, he only heard the same noises he heard from the workshop yesterday.

"Hello! Nepgear you in there?" he yelled out. With no response to answer his call, he promptly opened the (oddly unlocked) door to her workshop.

"Hey Nepgear do you want some pudd-" He stopped his mouth as he suddenly saw what the girl was building. "Oh my robots..." he murmured out as he witnessed a terrifying giant mech suit being built right in front of him.

The terror didn't come from the size but it came from what the suit possessed. Missile launchers, Gatling guns, and some questionably dangerous looking bombs being attached to the back of the suit. It appeared to him that the suit's capability of destruction was immeasurable. When the girl in question looked back to see Mikey, the boy happened to see her oddly disturbing expression.

One thing's for sure, that's not the face of a sane Nepgear.

"Oh Mikey, you've finally come!" she happily said before giving off a starstruck smile. "I was just finishing the preparations for the ultimate exo-suit!" To the boy, her eyes seemed more vacant than usual.

"U-Ultimate exo-suit? W-W makes it so ultimate?" he shyly asked, scared about finding out the other aspects that make it dangerous.

"W-Well, with the tech you gave me, I can to create a nuclear-powered suit that can let it run for millenniums! Shares become totally independent from the potency of this mech, and with these added armaments, this suit will make the wearer almost invincible!" Nepgear exasperatedly explained before eyeing the suit with a semi-crazed smile. The boy became slightly scared.

"A-Almost invincible? You're kidding right?" he asked as he hoped for a yes. If a girl was capable of doing that, then who knows what she's capable of.

"Nope! Total power and annihilation from the comforts of your own physical body. My mind was just running with ideas on how to make the suit even better and better," she said in an almost frantic manner. Mikey was terrified on in the inside. He never saw this side of Nepgear before.

"And now, in order to make sure everything is in working order, I'm going to need somebody to give this suit a test run. Somebody that could definitely use more power than their regular bodies can provide," Nepgear said before putting on a pensive expression.

More power? Well, almost everyone Mikey knows possesses some form of divine power. Unless...

"Mikey~" she called out in a singsong tone.

"Y-Yes Nepgear...?"

"Congratulations! You get to test my new mech suit!" Nepgear congratulated as Mikey's expression turned from slightly scared to downright horror.

"W-W-W-Wait, let's not be rash! What if I can't handle the suit?" Mikey asked.

"Oh it's okay Mikey, if your body can't handle the suit, I can make some robotic modifications on your body that'll make it work," Nepgear said before waving a wrench around. The thought of getting modifications on his body made him gulp. Really makes you wonder if science has gone too far.

"Nepgear you're scaring me..." Mikey stated. She giggled to the terror the boy was experiencing.

"Oh my Nep! Is this what you've been up to?!" Neptune asked in shock as she went in joined Mikey on his discovery. Nepgear gave off a giggle before going between the two.

"Yup! This technology is going to change everything forever. All my hard work will finally make a great impact on the world!"

"Impact like a giant earth-ending crater," Neptune added while putting on an awkward smile.

"Now then, Mikey. Can you fit into the suit or can you not?" Nepgear turned to the boy as she flipped her hair.

"Uhh, I-I don't I can handle it you know? M-Maybe I'm not emotionally ready for such power."

"I agree! Mikey acts like a child!" Neptune added in.

"Oh it's okay my love. I have just the thing that can solve that problem," she said before taking a hold of the poor boy's arm.

"Neptune, can you leave us alone for a little bit? I'm going to need to do something with our Mikey." More than eagerly, the girl left without saying anything to the couple. As the door shut as she quickly sprinted out, Mikey could feel a terrible premonition coming on.

"It's time to tinker around Mikey."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: wanted to tie some stuff up for future releases. Have a great time reading and stuff!**_

 _ **That Jerry fellow needs to chillout with some good ol' tea. Everyone needs to chill out.**_

 _ **Omake added due to thoughts**_

 _ **Love the supports**_

 _ **Love the world (some of it at least)**_


	27. Sinister Selfless Salvation

**Chapter 27: Sinister Selfless Salvation**

* * *

 _I was confused, and then it hit me. Something even more diabolical was happening underneath all this crap._

* * *

"Oh, what's the use in running? I'll fight you buggers right now!" the dogoo suddenly said as it abruptly stopped in its tracks before turning around. As a response, we also stopped a fair distance away from the dogoo, drawing our weapons in anticipation for an upcoming showdown.

"At least by fighting, I'll earn my lads some time to escape!" it gladly said before quickly drawing out its sword. With all of our weapons drawn, it seemed suicidal for a dogoo to go up against all of us.

"Why don't you just surrender now? Maybe we'll spare you the humiliation of a fight," Noire suggested before giving the dogoo a hefty smirk.

"Surrender mate? Are you bloody insane? I'd rather die than to be humiliated again!" the dogoo responded before putting up a sudden loathsome look.

"Oh is that so mister Jerry? Maybe we'll have to do this the hard way!" Neptune declared before charging in for a quick strike. The strike was useless however, as the dogoo effortlessly dodged the attack. Leaving herself open, the dogoo took the opportunity to use its body to slam the ditzy girl into the dirt ground.

 **SLAM**

And with that first hit, the whole field became a fray of erratic combat, similar to the first encounter with the bandit lord dogoos. You might think that fighting only one dogoo would be extremely easy, but you would be mistaken. Being a bandit lord dogoo, this monster seemed to have incredible speed, just like the rest of its brethren. With each bounce on the ground, it seems as though it was getting a scary amount of momentum.

"Can't catch a little slimeboy like me eh?" it taunted before noticing how it hasn't gotten any damage. "Or are you lads to weak for a fast bugger like me?" it asked before hitting Uni with a charged power slash. The force from its weight and its speed combined dealt some damage to the candidate.

"Ah!" she yelled out before noticing how the dogoo was already moving before she could even counterattack.

"Let's see how you blokes like my trickshots!" it mentioned before quickly pulling out its signature sniper rifle. As it soared through the air, the dogoo instantly aimed at two of the goddesses.

 **BANG BANG**

Two targets were simultaneously hit before realizing that the dogoo was on the move again. It seems as though it's constant movement allows it to escape and attack at the same time during combat.

"That dogoo is too damn fast! How the hell are we going to hit it?!" I asked as I realized something about these CPUs. As the goddesses noticed their stagnant situation, they all transformed into their higher forms. It seems as though their weaponry also gained some improvements.

When the dogoo went in for a strike on Purple Heart, the CPU was able to counter its rush, parrying it so its attack falls short. The dogoo quickly bounced back to dodge the goddess's counterattack before chucking one of its grenades toward Purple Heart.

"Eat light you wanker!" Jerry shouted out before quickly turning its face away from the grenade.

"Flashbang!" somebody called out, causing all of us to immediately look away.

 **BANG**

As the grenade went off, a flash of light surrounded my field of vision, but the light wasn't blinding at all. Black Sister was the first to have her sights on the dogoo, who happened to be still dashing and running around.

 **BANG**

Using her gunblade, she took a quick shot at Jerry.

"Ow!" the dogoo yelped out before losing speed and falling to the ground. The shot definitely hit its target, despite how fast the dogoo was. "You're sorry bum w-will pay for that!"

Wanting to avoid getting hit again, it immediately hopped up and dashed forward. It ended up mindlessly dashing into Green Heart, causing the dogoo to swiftly get stabbed with the spear.

"AH! BLOODY HELL...!" it screamed out before immediately backing up, only to hit the ground. Its newly made wound started to bleed out with slime, but the dogoo paid no mind to it. Instead of trying to heal, it ended up trying to gain more and more speed. It's as if the dogoo was seemingly a blur, the blur went straight towards Green Heart for a retaliation attack.

 **CLANG**

As Vert quickly blocked the fast attack, the force behind the dogoo backfired on it, causing its sword to be flung several meters along the ground.

"This was so much easier with the lads..." it angrily said before quickly dodging her attack with swift bounces. With each bounce, however, a puddle of slime was left in its place. Its bleeding was getting worse.

And from behind, Purple Sister seemed to have gotten the better of the dogoo, getting a direct hit with her gunblade.

"Ah! What in the bloody hell?!" it said before quickly turning around. It had no weapon, so it was forced to recoil back toward its discarded sword. Quickly picking it back up, Jerry started to realize the amount of danger it has gotten itself into.

Jerry was bleeding extremely badly, had sustained several wounds, and its dodging abilities seemed to have been drained. It couldn't even pay attention properly, as Purple Heart noticed before preparing to finish off the dogoo with a final strike.

"It looks like this is your end," she said before swinging down.

 **CLANG**

But she couldn't swing down all the way. Something else was blocking her.

Right behind Jerry stood another dogoo, fiercely blocking her sword from harming the injured dogoo.

"Even if it's against you overpowered assholes, I won't let you kill Jerry!" it furiously screamed out before pushing Purple Heart's attack back. The others watched in astonishment as the dogoo bravely tried to rescue its friend.

"It's okay Jerry, your boy is here to save you okay?" it said in a soothing tone before rolling over Jerry's body to reveal a shocking amount of injuries. From its slimy body, the rescuer administered a slimy substance which seemed to have filled up Jerry's bleeding wound. "That should stop the bleeding."

"And you are?" Purple Heart asked. The dogoo looked up with an expression of utter disrespect plastered on its face. It didn't vocally respond, however, as it chose to ignore the goddess's question. The CPU backed up. I'm wasn't sure why.

"D-Danny, is that you my lad...?"

"You bet your slimy ass it is!" it boldly affirmed as it looked back up once again.

"W-Why did you come here? I-I thought you blokes were heading back."

"To save your ass! What were you even thinking?!"

"Well... I thought I could take those wankers on. Come on lad, they were just some ladies," it chuckled out before spitting up some slime. "I think you should run away. Those ladies will come for your bum you know," Jerry advised.

"And leave you to die? Hell no. Get on my head you delusional slimeboy," Dan commanded. The dogoo gave no response. Instead, it simply laid there.

"J-Jerry?" it asked before bumping its slime body into Jerry's. Luckily for the dogoo, it seems as though Jerry was simply unconscious, passing out from the massive loss of slime.

As the scene played out, all of us couldn't help but watch. I felt that most of us were caught off guard by some of the selflessness shown by those dogoos.

"Monsters can't be selfless, right?" Black Sister asked as she was suddenly unsure whether to fire upon the dogoos. "It feels sort of wrong just to end them right now..."

"Even if that's the case, these dogoos are the main catalysts behind those new enemies. Ending them would relieve the citizens of Leanbox from danger," Green Heart explained.

"You know, we might never find their hideout if we don't get intel first," I noted. "Jerry and Danny must have some information."

"Who's to say they'll give it up?" Black Sister skeptically asked. "You saw that dogoo, it was a zealot."

"And that second dogoo doesn't look like it'll back down either," Purple Heart said.

"You!" Black Heart called out as she pointed her sword right at the dogoo. "Are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have to do this the hard way?" she asked as she grew tired of watching.

"What, me?" the dogoo asked before looking up, its hat covering its ears. Instead of its initial zealous expression, it had a terribly worrisome look on its face with tears formed around its eyes. Maybe seeing its friend in such a condition really takes a toll on morale.

"Yeah you. Are you going to surrender yourself or not?"

"S-Surrender myself?" it asked before contemplating this seemingly obvious decision. Looking back at its injured friend, the route of no fighting might've appeared to be the best choice. "Jerry..." it muttered out before turning its gaze onto the group of goddesses.

"If you can get this guy to a place where he will be okay, then I will gladly surrender myself," it calmly stated before putting away its sword.

"What?" I asked in surprise.

"You heard me. Make sure my friend lives, and I will comply."

"Leanbox has clinical centers for creatures like your companion over there," Green Heart informed. "I'm sure your friend will be okay if you go through with this."

With that info set in its mind, the dogoo hesitantly stepped forward, taking off its hat.

 _"That's good enough for me. Just take me in."_

* * *

When we got to the Basilicom, most of the CPUs stayed there to heal up and stuff. It was obvious that Jerry put up a hell of a fight.

Since I was feeling okay, I decided to go out and check on the recuperating dogoos. They were sent to a clinic which happened to be not so far from the Basilicom. It only took me ten minutes to walk there and when I arrived, I was greeted by some glass doors.

After entering the building, I noticed a room to the right which happened to be a waiting room. Chairs and other tools for sitting were there with odd and bright paintings lining the walls. With all the chairs there however, only one entity was present.

"Oh, it's Dan," I said to myself as I noticed the dogoo was stripped of its hat, weapons, and even its various medals which indicated its danger. It seemed like any other dogoo.

It wasn't long before the disgruntled dogoo took notice of me.

"Oh, you're here. What do you want?" it coldly asked before looking away. Even without all that stuff, it was still intimidating. Nonetheless, talking to this character was crucial. Maybe it knows something new about my brother.

"Uhh, I just came here to talk," I replied while approaching the dogoo in a calm manner.

"Came here to talk huh? Well, I suppose I can spare some words. At least you had the cold heart to save Jerry," it reluctantly said before I took a seat opposite from the dogoo. "In case you forgot, the name's Dan. Now, what in the hell do you want to speak to me about?" it impatiently asked before giving me an untrustworthy expression.

"Oh, just something about my so-called brother. You might recall the name Leon," I nonchalantly said before the dogoo suddenly had a worrisome expression.

"Leon? You're the master's sibling?" it asked before it shook its head. "Heh, I knew we were going to run into you eventually. He always spouts about finding and turning his brother into some weird thing. I don't pay attention to those parts."

"How in the world did my brother become this master?"

"It's a long ass story. Don't think you would want to hear any part of it."

Suddenly a door opened, revealing a nurse.

"Dan, is it?" she asked. The dogoo nodded slowly. "Follow me," she said before turning around and walking down a newly opened hallway.

Dan got up and began following her, leaving me by myself as I sat awkwardly in the chair.

"Hey, Michael."

"Hm?" I immediately looked up just to see an annoyed dogoo.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Come on."

* * *

"We might be goddesses but we still feel pain," Noire said before taking a sip from a glass of water. "Really makes you think about the enemies we're facing today," she remarked, checking on her recently bandaged cut on her arm.

"Makes me think about how unfair they sometimes are," Neptune complained before drinking a can of NepBull. She winced as she sat down. "Ugh, my legs are killing me!"

"At least we managed to catch two of those menaces," Uni said as she handed Nepgear a glass of water. "We'll use what we got, out an end to this chaos."

"I agree," Nepgear slowly said before taking a sip. "W-Where's Mikey?"

"He said he was feeling fine, so he went out to go do some errand," Noire explained.

"Ah, I see," the candidate said. "So,

I've been wondering...do you think that this Dan will behave?"

"That dogoo looked dead serious when it said it'll come in quietly," Noire said. "It really wanted to save its friend..."

"I wonder if that guy really did save his friend," Uni wondered before getting up.

"Welp, it won't hurt to take a small check. It would make things easier if we sort of, reconciled," Nepgear suggested.

"I support this plan! Let's go! I was just getting bored!" Neptune chimed in.

* * *

"Ah, the first l-lad I-I see happens...to be a bloody w-wanker!" Jerry choked up while putting out a weak grin. Mikey and Dan were sent to a room where Jerry was found resting in a clinic bed.

"You still alive and kicking there Jerry?" Dan asked the dogoo as it hopped onto the bed.

"H-Hell yeah lad! N-No bugger t-takes me down!"

"That's great to hear ol' buddy," it affectionately said before both of them suddenly looked at Mikey.

"Wait, isn't that bugger that weak wanker I've seen before?"

"What did you say?" Mikey immediately asked in an annoyed tone.

"I mean isn't that the young lad we saw earlier Danny?"

"Yup. He's master's brother. Unfortunate as it is," Dan shook his head in disapproval.

"Do all of you guys hate me or something?" Mikey reluctantly asked.

"Yeah I suppose. Us dogoos have an established prejudice against most humans," Dan said as Mikey noticed the dogoo's elevated mood.

"That's right mate... Slimetastic Four bashing e-everyone's arse!" the hospitalized dogoo eagerly said.

"I suddenly have a feeling that I'm in danger," the observing boy remarked.

"Yeah, you might slip and fall on your idiocy," Dan chuckled. Those dogoos didn't only have fighting prowess, but they also have a sharp tongue.

Mikey groaned.

 _"I should've gotten pudding instead..."_

* * *

 **Omake 13: Bad Bet**

And when Mikey realized the irrevocable bet he had agreed to with the Lastation candidate, he knew he really screwed up. Sometimes his dumb luck can't save him from everything.

"Ha! Consider yourself beaten royally!" Uni taunted as she landed the final blow to Mikey's character, knocking it out of the map they were playing in. The two competitors happened to be playing a well-known fighting game in Lastation. It was unfortunate since this was only the first time that Mikey played this game.

"Fighting games and their combos..." Mikey grumbled under his breath. "It's not fair how you can just stun lock me you know!" he whined out as he laid back in disbelief.

"Whatever, a win is a sweet win," she said before sticking out her tongue at the sore loser. "And that means you lose the wager."

 _For a split second, Mikey forgot about the agreement they made beforehand._

* * *

"Hey Mikey," Uni called out.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna play this fighting game with me? I could use a new opponent," she said before holding up a CD. The logos and title on the disk reminded Mikey of those fighting games he had seen in the past. He was never fond of those types of games.

"Yeah sure, why not am I right?" he casually said before shrugging just to give the idea that this was just a friendly game session.

This gesture wasn't convincing at all for Uni however. In the past, she was always bested by the seemingly carefree boy in a multitude of games. Most of his wins come from the fact that the boy takes advantage when she makes a mistake in her gameplay. Whether it be racing, shooting, or even thinking, the boy always somehow gets away with a win due to a whim of luck.

Hopefully for this case, the same situation won't happen again, and instead, the candidate will finally achieve her long-awaited win.

"So Mikey... care to make a wager?" the candidate asked while giving the boy an innocent smirk.

"W-Wager? What do you mean?" Mikey asked.

"You know, something to make this match a bit interesting. Some reward that the winner gets and some punishment that the loser takes," she casually said as she put the CD into the console.

"I don't like the sound of this," the boy remarked as he immediately became suspicious.

"What? Is the game master Mikey scared of a little bitty challenge? Can't handle the stakes?" she asked him in a taunting manner.

"W-Well I'm not scared of a challenge or anything! My skills are always a-at its peak when playing any game," he claimed while putting up an overconfident expression.

"Ok, now that I know you're interested, how about we start a bit small? Loser has to do what the winner says for a week," she proposed. Mikey simply blew a raspberry.

"Pfft. That won't scare me especially if I know I'm going to win."

* * *

"Oh no! Why did I agree to this?" he asked himself as his brain was immediately filled with petty trivial regret. Then, a stupidly genius but dumb idea came to mind. "Wait a second, I won't follow through!" he happily mentioned before giving Uni a mischievous look.

As a response, she turned around toward the boy, who had a smug look.

"Fine then, I'll make you comply!" she said.

 **OOMPH**

"OW OW OW!"

* * *

In another room, Noire and Neptune were talking while Nepgear was on her phone.

Suddenly from the corner, Uni walked out with a particularly glad look on her face. Everyone that was already in the room took notice.

"My my Uni, what has gotten your mood up?" Noire inquired.

"Oh it's nothing much, I just won something that might benefit us greatly," she answered.

"And what might that be?" Neptune curiously inquired.

"Come on Uni! You gotta realize that I still have a dignity!" a familiar voice whined out. The Lastation candidate looked back into the corner, where the others wondered who she's talking to.

"Nah ah ah. You have to listen," she instructed while wagging her finger. A defeated groan could be heard.

"Who are you talking to Uni?" Nepgear asked as she stood up. Going near Uni, she noticed a figure leave right as she got a look on what's around the corner.

"Hey! Who told you to run away?" Uni said out loud before chasing the runner.

"I ain't going to have none of you look at me!" the voice yelled out before quickened footsteps could be heard going getting more distant with every step. It wasn't long before a door could be heard being hastily shut.

* * *

For Mikey, the whole ordeal was a tragedy. When he attempted to avoid the consequences of his bet with Uni, he ended up getting two simultaneous leg cramps, forcing him to submit to the girl's demands.

And on top of that, he let the girl dress him up in an outfit no boy would be caught dead in.

"Today is definitely not my lucky day," he said as he caught his breath. "Gotta admit though, this outfit's kinda nice..." he said as he looked at himself at a nearby mirror. He ended up running into the guest room.

 **SLAM**

"Ah ha! Found you!" Uni called out as Nepgear, Neptune, and Noire were all behind the girl.

"Ahhh!" he screamed out as he attempted to hide behind a bed. The effort was in vain as he got a leg cramp trying to escape their sights. "Ow! Ow! OWWWW!"

After an embarrassing two seconds, the boy decided to remain still in order to ease his cramp pains.

"Oh my Mikey... is that you?" Nepgear asked in disbelief. "You look adorable!"

"Guess Noire has another cosplay buddy~" Neptune commented.

"Be quiet Neptune!" Noire said as she still couldn't believe her eyes.

"Say hello to our new maid!"

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Update after more than a week! School was hitting down on me this time but I struck back. Thanks for continued patience and support. Have a swagger terrific time reading and writing.**_

 _ **Dogoos are very human. That's very very very odd. What have I done? Now they save each other.**_

 _ **Nep Nep Nep**_

 _ **Omake updated cus ideas ideas ideas ideas**_

 _ **IF THE LIGHT WAS SO FAST HOW COME THE DARK GOT THERE FIRST :0**_


	28. Cunning Cryptic Calling

**Chapter 28: Cunning Cryptic Calling**

* * *

 _It's odd to think that these dogoos can become less savage. They certainly have a level of conviction, a level most are not willing to give up. Is the situation the same with the two that escaped?_

* * *

After the long while of sidetracking and stops, the group finally made it to the clinic. It took them much longer than they should've, thanks to Neptune and her odd antics.

As the CPUs and CPU candidates entered the quaint hospital room, they were only greeted by two dogoos. On the bed was a resting boy.

One dogoo was simply lying lazily in the bed, a few blue translucent bandages being stuck into its wounds in order to quickly restore its lost slime.

The other dogoo was quietly snoring lazily on a chair. It seemed to have a relieved look on its face as it remained motionless on top of its seat. It wasn't long before the presence of the girls quickly woke up the dogoo.

"W-W-What? CPUs? What are you guys doing here?" the dogoo asked as it suddenly became alerted.

"We're just checking on you guys, that's all. It seems like your friend needs to do some recovery before we can actually do something with you guys," Noire explained as she walked over to the resting dogoo.

"I suppose Jerry might need some more time. However, it worries me what you people have in store for us lowly dogoos," it solemnly said before putting on a grim expression. "But nonetheless, you spared young Jerry. I suppose anything can be requested of me."

"That's good to know. Don't worry, we require you only for the intel, not for the fights," Vert added. The dogoo slowly nodded to signal its reluctant approval as it glanced over at the bed. It's grim expression soon turned into a barely noticeable smile as it looked back at the girls.

As the girls were satisfied with their checkup, they took notice of the still sleeping boy, who happened to be laying his head onto the sheets of the bed.

"Oh, him. That boy gets tired easily. I don't know how his brother is so different," Dan remarked. "Might as well wake him up. Don't wanna risk him interrupting Jerry's nap."

* * *

After a particularly rude awakening conjured up by the trusty Nepgear, we were soon headed back towards the Basilicom.

Back there in the clinic where the dogoos and I were still awake, the two talked to each other about some pretty weird stuff. I wasn't involved in the conversation, but the two kept mentioning something about changes and appearances. It was all very hard to listen to.

"So Mikey, what were you doing over there? I thought you had an errand to run," inquired Nepgear.

"Oh, I just wanted to get some info about Leon. Must've stayed there for too long," I explained.

"What did they say about Leon?"

"All they really told me was that he was here before me. Other than that, those two went on to mention things that I didn't understand. Must've made me fall asleep!" Mikey joked as he scratched the back of his head.

"Today did seem like a tiresome day for you isn't it?" the candidate asked as I noticed her inching closer to me. I nodded while giving her a small smile. I felt that the nap didn't do too much good for me.

"Wow, a nap and you're still tired?! You must really suck at sleeping," Neptune remarked as the girl patted Mikey's head with a smirk. "It's okay though, old Neptune here will teach you properly some other day!"

"I hope not for Mikey's sake," Uni added.

"It's not too late for the boy to change out of Planeptune ways," Noire suggested. "Maybe Mikey just needs some hard work and determination to persevere in our world."

"Heh, I don't even know what Noire is talking about," Neptune said as she pretended to pay no mind to Noire. "Hard work? Never heard of it."

"What about the hard work you put into that MMO? I knew you were trying to outmatch me," Vert said.

And the banter was all that we heard throughout the way back. For the most part, I thought Neptune was just coming up with clever ways to say her excuses. It was interesting to hear how Noire never believed her words no matter what order or what way the lazy CPU puts it in.

I always get the odd feeling of "classic" whenever we go through one of those events or incidents along the way. Just feels right I suppose.

When we got back, we decided to take a little stop. Managing to capture two notoriously deadly dogoos was tough and it was only a manner of time before the other two dogoos come back for Dan and Jerry.

"With the commitment these dogoos have with each other, it is almost certain that they'll save them. We just have to be here to intervene," Noire declared.

"We'll just have to wait I suppose," Vert confirmed. "But in the meantime, I noticed we are all so stressed out lately."

"Nobody should be a stranger to stress," Noire replied. "We can't really take a break until we find these last two dogoos. How long has it been since we've returned from the hospital?"

"Only an hour," Nepgear pointed out. "We really did do a number on that Jerry."

"Welp, since we got nothing to do but just laze around, how about a video game?" Neptune suggested while holding up a controller.

"A video game? Haven't you lost enough Neptune?" I pointed out while batting the girl a sly smile.

"What do you mean? I can't lose enough because I never lose duh!"

"Heh, say what you want Nep Nep, I need to take another nap," I replied before proceeding to lay on a vacant random couch that Vert happened to own.

"Tired again Mikey?" Vert asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"You know it," I quietly answered before closing my eyes as I was laying there. It wasn't long before I could hear some giddy giggles near my face.

* * *

Wesley and George.

They were the names belonging to two dogoos coming from the self-titled Slimetastic Four. These two creatures have a long history of fighting and deception, similar to the Jerry and Dan. It was no surprise that all of them were so close in mysterious ways.

Overlooking the city from a nearby tree, it was distant enough for them to be inconspicuous, but close enough for them to get the right view. Two oddly contrasting dogoos were on a lone branch.

One dogoo seemed rugged, being equipped with holsters and pouches while sporting on war paint on its face. Each of these holders had some sort of weapon, whether it be grenade or a pistol. It seemed like it was a Swiss dogoo.

The other dogoo seemed to be observant, being equipped with all sorts of machines and gadgets for reconnaissance operations. It had a blindfold which happened to be tightly wrapped around its forehead above its eyes.

"That fool. He said he'll be coming back in ten minutes, and damn, it's already been an hour," Wesley pointed out as it observed the city from afar.

"Dan usually takes his time with this sort of stuff. He's sort of like an artist when it comes to fighting," George observed as the dogoo started to pull out some binoculars. "You know, master won't be too pleased if he finds out half our team is missing."

"Heh. Missing huh? I swear those damn CPUs must've captured them," Wesley inferred as he hopped next to George. "T-Those girls with those overpowered forms. Really pisses a young warrior off."

"Well, what are we going to do about it buddy?" The scout turned to Wesley, giving him a smug look. The warmongering dogoo looked back at George with a serious expression.

"We're going to hack and blast their way to freedom. It's obvious," the dogoo said before quickly taking out a sleek black shotgun. "We killed things that are a lot worse than just a couple of girls."

"I hope you're right. We can't afford to go through much more resistance. Our master needs our strength for something in the future," George informed before both of the dogoos hopped down the tree.

"Something in the future? Is that what he said?" Wesley questioned in disbelief.

"Yup, that guy gets vaguer and vaguer with each passing day. It's starting to feel a bit sketchy."

* * *

"And looks like I take the win once again," Mikey said with a smug smile. "Face it Neptune, you're never going to beat me in a game requiring concentration."

The purple-haired loser looked at the boy with an indignant determined expression.

"What are you saying Mikey? That I don't have the proper concentration skills?" she asked as she randomly put her legs on the armrest of the couch. "Mikey in hungry. Feed this Nep some pudding now!"

"What? No!"

"Hey guys! I brought some pudding!" Nepgear chirped in as the two noticed her standing above them. In both her hands were cups and spoons of pudding.

"Wowie! Little sis comes through again!" Neptune happily said as she promptly stood up to get a good look at the treats.

"Yeah take one! I got some for all of us," she said as she joined Mikey on the couch. Instead of Neptune normally sitting down, she jumped backward into the couch landing in a sleek fashion. It wasn't long before the three were eating pudding by themselves.

"Another round?" Neptune asked as she sloshed some icy cream in her mouth.

"Mmmhmmm," Mikey nodded as he looked toward the TV screen. "Fifth time's the charm right?"

"Ooh! What game are you guys playing?" Nepgear suddenly asked as she noticed bright cartoonish colors on the screen pulsating along a music beat.

"Oh it's just NepNep Heaven. It's a game where you apparently play along the beat to win," the boy nonchalantly explained as he navigated through the game menus. Neptune seemed a tad unimpressed with all of her recent losses. "Just some normal concentration stuff."

"W-Wait, can I play?" Nepgear hesitantly asked with a hint of glee in her expression.

"Sure! I've been getting pretty tired of winning," Mikey said before handing the candidate his controller. It wasn't long before he got up to claim his deserved prize.

"Don't you even dare Mikey," Neptune immediately said as the boy was reaching for another cup of pudding.

"Heh, what is a little ol' Nep going to do about it?" he said before taking a cup in front of Neptune's face. The CPU suddenly got up, leaving her controller behind.

"You want me to show you?" she said in a serious tone while taking one step forward. The boy cautiously took one step back before giving the girl an increasingly worried smile. It wasn't long before Mikey realized what he had gotten himself into.

* * *

 _"Might as well die a hero!"_

 **OOMPH**

 _"I'll teach you to Nep with me Mikey!"_

 _"H-Hey! W-What are you doing s-stop!"_

Those were the disturbing sounds that could be heard from the other room.

"What in the world is going on over there?" Noire asked as she turned her gaze to the direction of the voices.

"Who knows? Neptune's in that room, along with that crazy Mikey," Uni added.

 _"This is what we Planeptunians call diplomacy!"_

 _"More like warmongering you cra-"_

 **OOMPH**

"Heh, need I say more?" Uni concluded.

"Really makes you wonder how it's going to turn out if we meet Leon," Vert mentioned.

* * *

 **Omake 14: Servant's Defiance**

In this world, life is pretty weird. Right now, Mikey had to be Uni's maid for one whole week. A boy, dressed up in a frilly cosplay outfit, serving Lastation's candidate for 10,080 minutes. And on top of that, his servitude had been made public to Neptune and them. You'd think the maid would have the most issues in this situation. But, life is pretty weird.

 **RING RING RING**

"Mikey I need something!" Uni called out as she rang her little bell. Out from the corner, a sad-faced embarrassed Mikey came out, trudging through the emptiness he once called self-esteem.

"Yes lady Uni?" he asked while putting on a skeptical look.

"Nothing. I just wanted to call you here," she said with an annoying smirk on her face. "You can go on now my loyal maid," she said before waving the boy off. Mikey let out a breath of anger through his nostrils.

"Okay, whatever you say!" the boy sarcastically answered before enthusiastically turning around and heading back into the main room.

As her maid quickly left, Uni was left puzzled in her room. Staring at her collection of firearms, she had a pensive expression.

"I've gotten myself this far," she thought to herself as she imagined the boy in a maid outfit. The thought made her smile a little bit.

 _"But the question is, what do I do now?"_

And in the solemn silence in her room, a nasty idea came to her head. Something dirty, something Mikey would absolutely despise. Something that would threaten the remaining enormous amount of ego the boy had.

* * *

And from the hallway, came out an embarrassed maid. In the room where Mikey slowly entered, Neptune quickly jumped out of her seat to get the first teasing in.

"Aww cheer up Mikey, at least you're not alone!" Neptune started off before letting out a small chuckle.

"Hmph, at least this place will get cleaned," Noire added with a small smile. "Maybe it'll show you the error of your lax ways."

"My lax ways? Just because I'm dressed up as a maid, doesn't mean I am one! You're crazy if you think I'll work," Mikey retorted.

"What if Uni does make you work?" Nepgear curiously asked.

"Then I won't listen! She can't make a man with this little confidence do anything!" the boy boldly proclaimed.

"Ooh, do I have to tell Uni that her maid is being rebellious?" Neptune joked. "If she can get a maid outfit on you, then who knows what else she has in store."

"Heh, we'll see," he said before vigorously stretching his legs out. This gesture made a curious Nepgear stand up and get a closer look at what he was doing.

"Why the hard stretches Mikey?" she inquired.

"Oh, just making sure I don't get any of those pesky leg cramps later. Just in case," he said with a sure expression.

 **RING RING RING**

"Mikey! I need something!" Uni called out as she rang her calling bell. Mikey let out a small groan.

"Coming!" he yelled back out before walking leisurely towards the needy candidate. Nepgear quickly followed behind the rookie maid out of curiosity.

"What thing is Mikey going to Nep up now?"

* * *

"Yes Lady Uni?" he monotonously asked while bearing on a slight smirk. "Is there something you desire from this lowly maid?"

"Yes I do. I require you to clean the grass!" Uni formally said with a wide smile.

"C-Clean the grass? Are you crazy?!" the maid shouted out at the absurdity of the command.

"Yeah, that's what I said. You must do what I say mind you." Mikey let out a loud chuckle. "And on another note, I'm hungry. Make me some curry," Uni said.

"Ha! You expect me to make inferior food?" the maid laughed out once again. Uni didn't seem to appreciate the defiance coming from her temporary servant. She already witnessed the insubordination from the boy when she won the bet. She knew he wasn't the type to play by the rules. She needed some leverage.

Nepgear was just in the back, observing the exchange.

"Hmm, all this disrespect coming from my dear maid is concerning," Uni started off.

"Yup! You should be!" he said before strutting his body out of the room. The candidate let out an indignant sigh. It was just her and Nepgear remaining in the area.

"So, how was Mikey as a maid?" Nepgear asked as she walked slowly into the room.

"Absolutely the worst," Uni replied while pouting. "I thought he would be more compliant. Guess I was wrong," she nonchalantly said.

"What are you going to do now?" Nepgear asked as she sat by her.

"Might as well forget about the whole thing. You know, I could go for some food," Uni said.

"Sure, let's go now!" Nepgear happily said.

* * *

As the two best friends walked back out once again (lots of walking), they stumbled upon a sleeping maid on a nearby couch. Apparently, Mikey simply felt too lazy to change or run away.

"Zzzzzzz..." snored the conveniently sleeping boy as he clutched a pillow in his arms. Noire and Neptune were nowhere to be found.

"Mikey... out of all things," Nepgear spoke as she went near the boy. She slightly pushed his body, getting no response but a couple of turns and twists. She giggled, starting to playfully poke the maid's face. "Hehe. He's so cute like this!"

"Wait! Don't wake him up yet!" Uni quietly called out, halting the purple candidate. "I have a plan."

"A p-plan?" Nepgear asked.

* * *

It wasn't long before Neptune and Noire and visibly see the candidates' plan in action. It was odd to see two girls drag off a sleeping maid cosplaying boy. This sight deeply concerned the latter.

"What are they doing?" Noire asked as she observed them.

"Nothing," Neptune answered.

"Nothing? That looks incredibly suspicious to me," she pointed out.

"Don't worry about it worrywart, it's nothing."

 _ **.driew si efiL**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Finals got me down like hard! Couldn't write much because gots to focus on the studies. Don't worry tho it's going to be over in a couple of days! Things will get written and stuff will be done with swag.**_

 _ **Omake omake omake**_

 _ **Is here cus BRAINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN**_

 _ **wot wot wot**_

 _ **finals has got me nepped over help m :/**_


	29. Weirdly Warped Worlds

**Chapter 29: Weirdly Warped Worlds**

* * *

 _And then there were two more of them, blasting and sneaking their way into our lives. They have that rationality that not all the monsters had. Who knows? Maybe they'll become our most helpful allies._

 _Or they'll become our most dangerous enemies._

* * *

And it was no surprise that the gaming and shenanigans with Neptune had taken a few hours of the day. Early in the evening, the three of us decided to go to a nearby park. The reason was unclear, but I knew the reason was so great, that even Neptune had to address it.

We were all sitting on the same bench which was facing towards a random fountain. The cold breezes were giving me slight chills. Strangely enough, we were doing nothing but just sitting there and hanging out. Life could use more of these times.

"Wowie! Look at that sky!" Neptune marveled in wonder as she looked up from the bench. When I looked up, all I see was a hazy gradient of orange with puffs of clouds scattered everywhere. "You know, this environment would be perfect for people like us."

"Oh is that so Neptune? I feel like anything would be perfect for you," I added as I looked at the fountain in the center. The running water, the quiet chirps, and the presence of Nepgear and Neptune, really fit the scene.

"But I wonder sis, why did we come here?" Nepgear curiously asked. Neptune gave off a nonchalant yawn.

"Oh, I just wanted a breath of fresh air," Neptune said. Nepgear and I looked at her with slight doubt. "Whaaat? Even I get tired of looking at the TV screen from time to time."

"Heh, are you really sure about that Neptune?" I asked her while putting on a smirk. "Did you give up trying to beat me once and for all?" The CPU let out a loud raspberry.

"Pfft! You wish! I wouldn't be such a great CPU if I gave up all the time, especially to people that won't quit," she said with a prideful smile.

"Yup, that's my sister all right!" Nepgear cheered on.

"And if you think four measly dogoos are going to put this Neptune down, then you are sadly mistaken!" she boldly proclaimed as she suddenly stood up and sat back down. She seems to be more random than usual this time around.

"Geez Neptune, where is all this determination coming from?" I inquired.

"Oh, just from the feeling of hanging out with my best buds!" she said before pulling us closer. Nepgear let out a small giggle before hugging my arm.

"Yup, sticking together!" Nepgear gladly let out with a smile.

"And after all of this chaos is over with, we shall go back to Planeptune and continue on with our shenanigans!"

I couldn't help but smile at that statement.

"W-Wait, did you bring us here just so we could all be together?" I curiously asked.

"What? Of course not!" Neptune said as she laughed out in absurdity. "We are going to eat together! My stomach says that we should all eat some pudding."

"Really, pudding again? Maybe we should try some ice cream or something," I suggested. Neptune simply let out a chuckle.

"You're funny Mikey."

* * *

Within the span of that time, Dan was informed by one of the nurses that he was needed in the Basilicom. Being the dogoo of his word, he promptly got there, only to be greeted with the presence of Noire, Uni, and Vert.

"Dan, so glad you came," Vert said with pleasant surprise.

"Well, I was obliged to come. Now, I assume you want to know where the master is?" Dan asked.

"That's right. With the other two dogoos coming in moments, a plan of attack is optimal if we are going to take Leon down," Noire said. "This is where you come in to play."

* * *

"You know, it would be pertinent to actually know where Dan and Jerry are," George advised as the two dogoos were covertly traversing the alleyways.

"Yeah I suppose so, but how the hell are we going to get them back. Maybe those good-for-nothings locked 'em up in a prison or something!" Wesley said as it looked towards the streets. "Man, I forgot how big Leanbox or any city was.

And in the street running behind the two dogoos, a familiar sloshing and bouncing could be heard. George was the first to catch on to the audible sound.

"Who's there?" George suddenly asked before turning to look directly behind itself.

Passing the street with no alertness in the world, was a bare minimum ordinary dogoo. It was just casually hopping down the street, not noticing George observing it.

"Hey man leave that guy alone," Wesley said. "It's highly unlikely that these guys would let Dan or Jerry roam around the streets."

"B-But I saw a scar," George muttered out. Wesley came out of the alleyway to get a look, only to see that the dogoo was way too far away for observation.

"My ass you can see his scar! That dogoo's way too far away," Wesley said as he scoffed at the thought. "You and your insane claims."

"Well, I did see its scar when it walked past the alley. I've never seen one other dogoo with a scar like it," George claimed.

"Oh really, what in the hell makes you say that?" the rugged dogoo asked incredulously.

"Remember that time where Dan got slashed hard by one of those abominations?"

"A-Abominations? Oh, those things."

"Well, Dan's injury left a dark blue scar all the way on the back."

"Huh, really? I never really saw that scar then. Must've been covered by the big hat," Wesley mentioned while starting to see what George was saying. "Maybe he is roaming around."

"Exactly. But I'm still unsure about one thing though."

"What's that brainiac?"

* * *

"Why is Dan still alive?"

"Ooooohhh..." Neptune groaned out in culinary regret. "Too much..." She waddled out of the pudding store as she held onto her belly. "Mikey stay still."

"Wait what why?" the boy asked before stopping.

 **OOOMPH**

She tried getting a piggy back ride from him, but ended up crashing Mikey into the ground.

"Oops, sorry!"

"Ouch! I didn't think you were this heavy," Mikey said in surprise as he quickly got back up. "Where does all that pudding go?"

"How would I know? Maybe I need to take a rest. Pudding gets me so winded," Neptune said before resting her head on her sister's shoulder.

Suddenly, down the street was a dogoo bouncing towards the clinic. As it disappeared in the distance, two more dogoos followed. Passing by the three, Mikey was able to see that the two dogoos were visibly armed to the teeth. The only two dogoos he encountered were disarmed after they surrendered.

"Wait, did you see that?" Mikey pointed out.

"Who were the other two following Dan to the clinic?" Nepgear asked.

"W-W-W-Wait! Those must be Dan's super dangerous friends!" Neptune yelled out. "We must capture them before they cause havoc! Quick Mikey lend me your back!"

"Huh-WHAT THE!" Mikey yelped out as he felt a sudden heaviness take place on his back. Looking around he quickly discovered that Neptune had successfully jumped on, having her arms holding to his shoulders with her legs holding on to his body. "Hey! I'm not your transportation!"

"Yes you are! Now go! We must catch dangerous dogoos!"

"I don't think we can fight a dogoo if you're on my back," Mikey advised.

"It's ok! It'll be like the knight on the horse. I'm the knight and you're the hor-"

"I ain't no horse are you crazy?!"

* * *

"You know Jerry," Dan started, "I'm pretty sure that Wesley and George are coming for us."

"Ooh a rescue! What could be bad about that?" the bed ridden dogoo asked excitedly.

"Well, what if they find out that we ar-"

 **CRASH**

In a mere second, a nearby window was quickly smashed. Shreds of glass were soon piled up around the opening.

"Oh shit," Dan uttered out, maintaining his composure.

"That's a rude awakening mate," Jerry observed.

Suddenly in the newly made opening, two dogoos peered through. Jerry was the first notice them.

"What the, who are you wankers?!"

"For your information, we're your damn rescuers," one of the dogoos replied in a snarky tone as both of them hopped into the room.

"W-Wait, Wesley and George, is that you?" Dan asked.

"Of course it's us you blind slime. Now come on, we gotta get out of here," Wesley urged on.

"W-W-Wait, what the hell happened to you Jerry?" George pointed out.

"Huh me? Aww I just got a really nasty cut, that's all!" Jerry nonchalantly said.

"A really nasty cut huh? And the locals let you heal up here?" George pressed on as it raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, the people were just doing their job," Dan added.

"So you guys just escaped the CPUs with nothing going on right?" George asked.

Dan and Jerry nodded.

"Then who's that standing behind you!?"

 _"Uh oh, looks like another boss fight is coming!"_

* * *

 **Omake 15: Windmills**

A new force, a new evil has come up in the not-so-peaceful Gamindustri. Nobody knew what the entity was, but everyone knew that the entity was extremely potent. Working in its ways, it sent oddly powerful monsters to each nation to cause mayhem and destruction. On top of that, it carried out other malevolent activities to further impede the goddesses, providing each of them their own personal hell to deal with.

Normally the goddesses could manage and restore things back to the way they should be, but this time, that wasn't an accurate prediction anymore.

* * *

"Ugh..." Neptune groaned as she slowly got herself up from the cold tiled floor. When she finally got herself to stand straight, she found herself being in the same location she had seen for weeks already. She tried escaping at first, but the room had an evil energy, weakening her to the point where she couldn't break out on her own. On the floor were the all-too-familiar bodies of warriors, scattered across the ground like heaps of garbage, not moving or budging in the slightest bit. She always gets a horrible sense of dread every time she glanced at even one of the bodies.

On the ground next to one of the soldiers was a hastily carved in message.

"Even if their body lives, they'll give up forever," she read quietly to herself.

The interiors of her dungeon were dark and depressing. The object that stood out most to Neptune, was a bright red fancy chair sitting atop of the highest point on the floor. It was lit up by a flickering light from the ceiling, showcasing the furniture as the only vacant spot there is. She happened to hate that spot the most, but with each day, the seat became more tempting for her to sit on. It was probably the only good thing left in this room.

She tiredly looked at the huge window to her right, which granted a beautiful view of the sky above the layer of white puffy clouds. She could see the sun, she could see the beautiful gradients the sky had to offer, and she could even see herself on the dim reflection of the glass. She couldn't bring herself to think how she would compare with the sky. All she could think about was how the clouds were all together, forming a robust blanket covering the unkempt cities below.

The longer she glanced at the clouds, the more she felt like crying. But she couldn't bring herself to do that, not even in solitude. Her sister was still out there, so she still needed to remain strong. The thought of her sister and her best friends returning for her was one of the only things that prevented her from giving up.

 _"But will they ever come?"_ she repeatedly thought to herself as she sat near the light from the window.

* * *

And from the clouds, rode through a small floating island. It was filled with trees and green grass topped off with a windmill colored like a lighthouse. Sitting at the edge of the floating island was Mikey, solemnly playing a guitar as he stared only downwards at the blanket of clouds underneath.

 _Windmill, windmill for the land_

 _Turn forever hand in hand_

 _Take it all in on your stride_

 _It is ticking, falling down_

 _Love forever, love has freely_

 _Turned forever you and me_

 _Windmill, windmill for the land_

 _Is everybody in?_

Neptune was the first and only one to take notice at this spectacle. As the island slowly sailed by the window, she saw Mikey sitting on the edge of the little island.

"Mikey..." Neptune uttered out. She immediately vigorously banged on the window to try to get his attention, but her efforts were in vain. As much as she wanted to escape and go onto that island, she already knew she couldn't. The room had made her powerless to escape. All she could really do was watch as the boy strummed by himself, not even taking the time to notice anything around him. All that was on his mind was his destination.

It wasn't long before he was long gone from the tower, leaving Neptune by herself once again.

 _"But will they ever come?"_

 **"And that's all my brain could remember after waking up. Crazy isn't it?"**

* * *

"Well, it seems this surreal dream might've been a nightmare," Nepgear informed as she ate a scoop of pudding.

"Yeah, that dream didn't have pudding in it," Mikey mentioned.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: In a different country right now but I can still write in English. Anyways have a beautiful time doing the things you normally do on this website, which might include some reading or stuff.**_

 _ **Update: omake here i try to be artsy u red no? omake inspired from song songf**_

 ** _I don't have my computer with me so check my homophones. Four for your you're there their they're_**

 ** _One fish two fish three fish_**

 ** _I bet Neptune doesn't freaking eat fish_**

 ** _One fish two fish three fish_**

 ** _Noire has to fight a big fish_**


	30. Deluxe Dogoo's Demise - Part 1

**Chapter 30: Deluxe Dogoo's Demise - Part 1**

* * *

 _Their history was surprising. I was shocked to hear that deep down, they don't even respect him._

* * *

To Neptune's surprise, there was no boss fight. What replaced the fight was just a misunderstanding between the four of those dogoos. It's kind of hard to explain but simply, we were all just sitting in that one room. It was uneventful moment to say the least.

When Jerry told them of how the CPUs spared both of them, George and Wesley seemed to have adopted a friendlier temperament towards us. I guess reason was in their brains that day or they were just glad to see their buddies again. All they did so far was chat with each other, probably trying to catch up on lost time.

The one odd thing that I noticed was that all the dogoos were looking at me. Looking at me like I had no clue what was going on, looking at me like I was supposed to be informed. That's when Jerry hopped out in front of the others, clearing its throat before facing me.

"The four of us blokes feel that maybe you should know before you and your crazed CPU lads get yourself into a heap of rubbish," Jerry started off.

"Wait, know what?" I curiously asked as I looked at the dogoos. They all had doubtful and unsure looks as they continued looking at me.

"Know what happened to your brother beforehand," Dan interjected as it slowly hopped out. Thedogoo looked down at the sleek clinic floor then looked back up at me.

* * *

 _Hey, it's me, Dan. The first dogoo to see your brother in this odd world._

Your brother was a bit different from the rest of the people living in the city. When I first laid my beady eyes upon him, he exhibited something that I thought I would never see in a human: innocence. It's sort of odd saying that now, Leon seemed to have made a turn for the worst as time went on. But back in those days, before we moved on with our plans in Leanbox, that boy was somebody that gave you hope that humans weren't so bad after all.

We only found him while we were exploring a forest. He seemed to have come from a different place, as I noticed that he was weaponless and didn't look like the rest of the people from Planeptune. He was walking around like he was searching for something. When he finally met us, he didn't even react with fear or hostilities like all the other people do.

 _Instead, he looked upon us with excitement._

"W-Who are you..?" Leon asked.

"W-Wait, you don't know what we are?" I asked the boy as he was looking down on me.

"You can talk?" the boy inquired again as his eyes opened in surprise. "That's so cool!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah I guess being a talking slime is impressive isn't it?" George sarcastically remarked.

"And you guys look so adorable!" he said before crouching down and petting Jerry. When I observed that dogoo, he seemed to like the attention he was getting. When I looked at the boy, he seemed fascinated with the place he was in, as if he was like a tourist from some other planet. When we asked him where he was from, he said that he wasn't from anywhere around here.

We all (except for Jerry) first suggested to just forcibly return him to the central city and get this over with. Jerry, however, immediately jumped for taking the boy with us.

* * *

"And I don't know how, but Jerry somehow convinced us to keep him," Wesley admitted as it shook its head in shame.

"I mean, that lad wanted to go with us!" Jerry mentioned before Dan signaled him to be quiet.

"Anyway..."

* * *

After we decided to take him along with us, we resumed our plundering and exploring in Planeptune's wilderness.

We only had swords at the time since most of our other stuff was back in our home in Leanbox. When we gave your brother a sword, he was surprisingly skilled with it. He was very eager to slash and destroy monsters that got in our way.

It seemed to be going well for all of us, but then...

A faithful dungeon expedition went horribly wrong when we let Leon clear out the dungeon. The dungeon that contained something which would change the boy we knew forever. It was a mistake to have Leon take the loot. _A mistake we all regret._

To put it shortly, after he came out, he was a different man. A wicked man with a newfound source of strength that we can't even match by ourselves. With the threat of a brute and nasty death, your brother tried to make us his pawns in his new plan. After he disappeared one night, we simply returned back to Leanbox, hoping to not see that accursed boy again. We had some plans over there that needed our guidance.

* * *

"Oddly enough, he really wanted to see you Mikey, but he never mentioned why," Dan remarked before finishing off.

"Heh, I would assume it's to kill you or something," George joked. "By the way, did you see him in Planeptune?"

"Yes we did! But he escaped through teleportation or something weird like that. I mean, that boy had lots of weird things," Neptune mentioned.

"Teleportation? Him? Ah bugger! He must've raided those dogoo storages where they keep all the good stuff," Jerry said. "Master's being a damn wanker again."

"Wait, why do you dogoos call my brother master if you guys aren't so fond of him?" I curiously asked.

"Cus all evil guys need vague nicknames," Wesley informed.

"Enough with the chit chat, let's just end this once and for all," Dan suddenly said before putting on its signature expression.

* * *

It soon was a whole squad going heading over to stop Leon. On the way, we were joined by Noire, Uni, and Vert who happened to be eager to partake in this act of vanquishing my brother. It felt weird how he suddenly changed after heading into that dungeon. I doubt something in a mere dungeon could have the power to influence and control one's actions.

When we arrived, all we saw was just the same hue of leaves and trees. It was pretty far from where we fought the dragon since there so many trees it practically covered the blue sky.

"Here we are, the door to where he presides," Dan explained, pointing to an old wooden door hidden behind the row of loose vines.

"If Leon returned to Leanbox, what happened when he saw you guys again?" Nepgear asked.

"Let's not talk about that," Jerry said. "All we can say is that our lads just _appreciate his toughness_."

The dogoo soon unlocked the door (somehow) and walked us to an underground base. The interiors were rugged and rocky with a solid floor to top it off.

"Usually the outside areas would be packed, but the dogoos are busy fighting off the questers and such," the dogoo explained as it led us to a hallway.

"It's still a shame that your kind is still causing trouble," Vert remarked.

"Hey, we can't control everyone you know. We're just leaders," George added.

"Likely story," Noire muttered out.

The hallway soon led to an enormous circular room, weapons and loot lining the walls. This room had many locked metal doors. In the center of the room was a lone wooden chair with a shadowy figure sitting in it. The only thing I could see from here was a sword, gleaming in the dim light.

"Is that him?" I quietly asked. The dogoo nodded yes. It wasn't long before the four dogoos left us alone, as it seems that we were the ones that were supposed to defeat him.

To be honest, if it was truly him, I wouldn't be afraid to fight him.

When we stepped into the room, the figure didn't respond or even look at us. It just seemed to be sitting there, staring forward at nothing.

"He's giving off a dark aura," Uni remarked as we cautiously called out our weapons in anticipation.

"...I-I've been trying so long, b-but he still lives," the figure started, making us all halt in our tracks.

"B-But now... b-but now I have the **opportunity**."

The shadow suddenly veered its head straight towards me, as if it was trying to stare me to death.

"I see that you brought your precious friends with you. Something I'd expect from a coward. And like with all things, I have a way to deal with them," the figure said before slowly getting up.

"Uh oh uh oh," Neptune said out loud.

My brother, the man who appreciates theatrics, slowly walked into the dimly lit spot. He was gripping his sword by the blade while staring at his wrist.

"You're the only thing that's stopping me, brother. The only thing preventing my total control," Leon spoke as he started gripping the sword's handle. "I should've **killed** you back there, but something stopped me. It was a mistake on your part to run away with these fools."

"Run away? Why would I run away now?" I said as I started walking up to my so-called brother. He was much different from when I saw him last time. His face and hair were similar to mine, only more sinister and rugged. When you really stare into his eyes, you could see a bright red in that iris.

"Because I know this time, I won't be making the same mistake," he coldly said before giving me a hearty smile. "And if you think your friends can help you, think **AGAIN**!"

 **BEEP**

 **CLANG**

Suddenly, an enormous cage fell down from the ceiling, separating me and Leon from the goddesses when it hit the ground. An energy transparent shield soon formed around the cage. It seemed impregnable from the inside.

"Mikey!" Nepgear called out in shock before trying to break the barrier with her sword. It only absorbed her attack, causing no damage. "It won't budge!"

Neptune quickly transformed into her next form. Giving the shield one of the best attacks she got, the phalanx didn't even show any signs of weakness.

"He's trapped in there with that psycho!" Purple Heart pointed out.

"That's because the materials used have made this shield impenetrable! I wanted to make sure nobody interrupted our little fight," Leon said before making sure that I was the only person inside.

"Now with all those **BORING** introductions out of the damn way, I think it's time for YOU to breathe your **LAST** breath!" he said in a maniacal tone. It was almost like he wasn't himself, and I barely knew him.

Nervously holding up my sword in preparation, my brother gave a loud chuckle.

"Ooh, so **PATHETIC**! So so so pathetic, and to think I spent all this **EFFORT** in order to catch YOU!" he said before pointing his sword directly at me. "You know, I bet your brother would be utterly disgusted by how you're acting in this world."

Your brother? What is he talking about?

"W-What are you saying Leon?! Is this another ramble I'm going to hear from you?" I indignantly addressed.

"Woah Michael, where did you get that crap attitude from? Last I checked, your brother had **FOND** memories of you being a shy timid boy back at home! What happened **? DID YOU CHANGE**?" he sarcastically asked before going back to his own annoying chuckle.

"Shut up! You're just a damn insane person!"

"Insane? **INSANE**?! You know what's truly insane? The fact that you're the only person that's stopping me from taking **CONTROL** of him. Havoc and chaos would reap onto this world if only **YOU** were dead!"

"C-Control of him? What are you saying?!"

"Let's just say that your brother isn't exactly **HERE** right now. But the thing is, he's **STILL** here because of **YOU**! **YOU** as his only sibling is the only heap of resistance stopping me from taking total control of his **MIND**!"

His mind? His mind? Those dogoos said how he changed after coming out of that dungeon _. Is this what they were referring to?_

"So the first time I saw you here-"

"You were seeing me weakling. Wasn't it nice to know that your brother really isn't your brother?" Leon taunted as he gave me another big grin. Whatever this damn thing was, it seemed to love trying to just screw my mind.

"You know, I sincerely hope that you **TRY** to defeat me. The easier it is to finish you OFF and be free. Stabbing you was a start, but just **SLAUGHTERING** you is going to be a beautiful finish!"

"You ain't going to slaughter me dumbass," I boldly said before getting in position. My brother had a quaint smile on his face.

"Well now, let's see if your words hold **TRUE**!" he yelled out before rapidly lunging at me.

 **CLANG**

Our swords were locked together, but he tried to overpower me with brute strength.

"You know can't handle the strength of a **GOD**!"

Suddenly his strength multiplied causing his sword to knock my sword away.

 **SLASH**

"Hrnngh!" I gritted my teeth in pain as I felt a cut on my arm. Luckily the injury was minor, still allowing me to defend myself. I immediately backed away from him as I still gripped my weapon in confidence.

" **HAHAHAHAHA! FIRST BLOOD**!" Leon yelled out triumphantly as he licked the tip of his blade.

"It's time to taste some more of your failure **MICHAEL**!"

* * *

No! We can't just stand here as Mikey is fighting that guy!" Nepgear said before turning her sight towards the impregnable dome shield. She could see the fight going on between them in the shielded cage, giving her a sense of dread.

"You're right, but we need to get through that barrier," Purple Heart said before looking around the large room. "Maybe this place has a generator or something keeping that shield active," she said.

"Look! Up in the ceiling!" Vert pointed out. The rest of the group looked up to find a projector-like device above the top of the shield. Light and blue energy seemed to be projected from it.

"Must be a shield projector!" Noire spoke.

"Quick! Destroy it! The longer we take the more danger Mikey's in!" Uni warned.

* * *

I was guarding and attacking like a madman, but Leon still showed no signs of stopping for one second. It was starting to take a toll on my arms, but I can't let up.

"Getting a little tired eh? Do you need your **FRIENDS** to help you?" he derisively asked before promptly stopping to get a look at the CPUs. As he walked closer to the walls of the cage to get a better look, he noticed that the girls weren't where they used to be.

"Huh, so your friends **DON'T** want to see your demise? That's a damn shame, a damn shame indeed," he said as he shook his head. "Now, where were we..?"

 **CLANG**

"You never let up Leon," I exhaustedly remarked as I stared right into his crazed eyes. It was good that I blocked his moves, but it was sure creepy for him to just directly stare at me. I wanted to get so far away, away from that look he was giving me.

"What..? Creeped out by your own sibling? How **RUDE**!" he said before lifting his sword above his head. His cockiness got his face exposed, letting me do something that I always wanted to do.

Quickly holding my sword in one hand, I used my other hand to form a fist, launching it towards his nose.

 **PUNCH**

When I hastily retreated to a safe distance, I saw a bit of blood dripping down from his nostrils. Leon was immediately on guard, staring at me with a pent up tank of anger.

"W-What d-did you do?! Did you m-make me **BLEED**?!" he coughed out. Instead of him being angry however, my possessed brother started to laugh.

Not just a chuckle or a giggle.

A real laugh, the laugh one gives before killing another. Such a wonderful laugh, pleasing to the ears of the killer, torture for the ears of the victim.

Hastily he tried stabbing with all his force, only for me to quickly sidestep out of the way.

"Always trying to run aren't we?" he observed before trying to go for my hip area. As I tried blocking him, he quickly grabbed onto my blade with his bare hand.

"What the?!"

He squeezed the blade furiously as if he was trying to make himself bleed from his palm.

"No pain no game Michael. **HRRNGH**!" he grunted before chucking my sword away with great force. Leon briefly stared at his bloodied hand before turning to his sword with a great grin on his face.

" _Uh oh, it's all the way over there! Looks like I have the upper hand after all_ ," he taunted.

* * *

 **Omake 16: Bad Mistake**

Because if there's only one thing that you must not do, it's that you don't eat Neptune's pudding.

"Mikey!" Neptune called out from the couch as she simply slouched with her legs over an armrest. "Pudding, now!" she demanded. Despite her loud request, she didn't get an immediate response. "Mikey! Where are you? A girl's in distress you know!"

"Okay I'm coming!"

Suddenly a boy came from the kitchen, a guilty look plastered on his face. He sat down on the couch with Neptune, only briefly staring at her face before giving off a sigh.

"Let me guess Nep Nep. Pu-"

"-dding!" the CPU eagerly finished. "You sure know the protagonist very well Mikey!"

"Well, I know you won't be too happy to discover that we sorta... ran... a little bit..." His face quivered with mischief as he hesitated finishing his sentence.

"Ran a little bit what? Spill the vanilla beans Mikey!" Neptune impatiently said as she suddenly sat up to listen to him.

"Let's just say no pudding today..." Mikey casually said before turning on the TV. Looking back at the girl beside him, her expression nor her look seemed different after hearing the unfortunate news. He would figure that Neptune would go a bit ballistic if she found out her favorite treat was gone.

But Neptune wasn't concerned about that. Instead, she was concerned about thw sudden shortage. She knew the pudding she had would last her until tomorrow, but this batch only lasted her until today.

It was at this moment that an idea popped into the Nep's head.

"Huh, you're taking this surprisingly well aren't ya boy?" Neptune observed as she sat next to him. As Mikey briefly looked back at her, she had this new "I suspect you did something" look on her face.

"Wait w-what?" Mikey asked as he was caught off guard by that odd question. "Taking what well?"

"You know, this pudding shortage we are suddenly experiencing. You don't seemed fazed by this fact at all. Do you feel the craving for an icy treat like I do bestie?" Neptune asked as she got a bit closer. It was an odd thing to do, but the CPU was squinting her eyes to see the details of Mikey's face.

"Uhh, what are you doing?" Mikey asked as she noticed Neptune's gaze out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, just doing some detective work," Neptune replied as she spotted a bit of vanilla pudding in the corner of his lip.

"Detective work, what for?" the boy asked while giving off a chuckle.

"Work in order to find out the cause of this shortage. We can't simply live knowing a pudding thief is among us," she said in an oddly bold tone.

"Heh, p-pudding thief, what do you mean?" the boy asked as he gave a nervous laugh. "I hardly know what pudding is, haha..."

"Hey you two!" Nepgear greeted as she walked past the two. She went into the kitchen for a brief period before coming out into the living room. She had some stuff in her hands.

"Uhh Mikey, you have some unfinished pudding here," Nepgear pointed out as she held up a pudding cup with the addition of a spoon.

That spoon would go on to destroy Mikey's innocence, as he had foolishly wrote his name on the handle beforehand.

"What?!" Neptune shouted as she stood up. "I knew it!" she confirmed as she looked back at Mikey. The boy in question wiped his lip, trying to play off of his childish innocence.

"Knew what sis?" Nepgear curiously asked.

"That Mikey ate all the pudding!" she accused.

"Oh I'm sure it's no big deal. We can go buy some at the mall," the candidate suggested.

"Eh, you guys can go ahead, I gotta catch up on some shows you know," the boy said before leaning back and focusing his eyes on the TV.

Neptune let out an indignant puff of air.

"Hmph! Are you serious Mikey?" Neptune asked before going up behind the couch.

"Serious a-about what?"

"Trying to play ignorance huh? Well I won't take "no" for an answer!" Neptune proclaimed before proceeding to drag Mikey off the couch.

"W-W-Wait, what are you doing Nepu?!" Mikey squeaked out. Nepgear looked at her sister with awe as the boy was helplessly dragged along by the goddess.

"Like the benevolent protagonist I am, I'm going to teach my friend an important lesson!" she cheerfully said.

"Ah! Somebody stop this injustice!"

* * *

The three people just walked into the mall, observing their surroundings curiously. The walls were a glossy white, the tiles made of visually appealing granite, and even the stairs had a unique flair to them. Neptune had big plans for her little sister and Mikey, but she wasn't going to reveal them just yet.

Biding her time seemed appropriate.

"Okay guys, I'll be off to the pudding store to find what I want. You two can go explore, perhaps show Mikey around what we have here in Planeptune," she suggested before running off into one of the stairways. It seems Neptune's mission of teaching Mikey a lesson was forgotten.

"Let's meet in the boutique in fifteen minutes!" she shouted back at us before disappearing into the second floor.

"Boutique? What's she going to do over there?" Mikey asked curiously before looking at Nepgear.

"Maybe she's planning something fun for us at the end," Nepgear suggested while putting on a warm smile. "In the meantime, shall we go explore together?"

"Sure, I'd like that," he answered as he felt his hand holding another. "Maybe not like this though..." he shyly muttered out.

"Hehe, I can already tell!"

* * *

Neptune already bought her bagful of pudding, all she had to do now was to find her sister and the boy who stole her treat. Holding a plastic bag with her wrist, she eagerly made her way into the boutique store.

As she looked around, she saw Mikey and Nepgear, sitting around with smoothies in their hands. They were talking to each other. Neptune noticed how Mikey had a slight redness on his face.

But there was simply no time in analyzing people's faces. A plan had to be done.

"Heya guys! I'm baaaack!" she announced, getting their attention.

"Oh hey Neptune," Mikey greeted.

"Oh my, you've gotten so much in just fifteen minutes," Nepgear commented as she pointed at the plastic bag.

"Yupperoni! Many new flavors, many new things to eat!"

"I wonder why we're meeting inside a boutique," the boy mentioned.

"Because we are going to do something in this boutique! Why else would we be here?" Neptune replied.

"What's that something?" the boy asked.

"Oh you'll see, you'll see very soon," she said with a grin. "Very soon..." she muttered out. The last "very soon" gave Mikey the idea that something sinister was taking place.

"Oh ok. Very soon, I see!" Mikey awkwardly said before getting out of his seat.

"That's right Mikey! Very soon, we'll be doing something fun!"

"Very soon..." Mikey repeated before getting a bit paranoid and pensive. "Are you sure you don't have any, you know, problems with how I ate your pudding?"

"Whaaaat? Why would I have problems with that?" she asked in an innocent tone.

That response only worried the boy. As he tried to get to the exit door, a hand held the door handle shut.

"Wha-"

"And where do you think you're going?" Neptune inquired.

 _"Uh oh."_

* * *

"And that's how Mikey was stuck with cat ears for two weeks," Nepgear explained. Uni shook her head in disapproval.

"A cat huh? I would've love to see that," Uni said as she gave a giggle at the image. "It really was a mistake for him to just eat it all. Did he even care about what happened?"

"Oh yes, whenever he went outside he always wore a cap or something to cover his head. We always took it off just to see that grumpy cat inside him," she mentioned with a smirk.

"Where is he now?"

"In bed, napping peacefully as always. Why?"

 _Uni only nodded._

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Thinking is pretty difficult when you can't think but you know what, the noggin can still work. The 30th chapter is here, such a long time. I would like to say thanks for all the continued support and such.**_

 _ **As always have a swell time eating and reading. Writing's a thing too you know.**_

 _ **47 74**_

 _ **This story got weird numbers though.**_


	31. Deluxe Dogoo's Demise - Part 2

**Chapter 31: Deluxe Dogoo's Demise - Part 2**

* * *

 _I hate vengeful spirits, especially ones that possess a fellow sibling. I wouldn't be surprized if my brother was possessed by a ghost dogoo._

 _He probably wasn't and I'm a bit relieved by that fact._

* * *

"The end is NEAR **mortal** ," Leon commented as he slowly walked towards me. The only defense I really had were my fists, and I wasn't even confident that I can take him down now. It was only a moment before he stood just a mere feet away from me. He had a smirk grow on his face as he eyed my legs.

"Michael, your friends won't be seeing you much longer..." he ominously spoke as he began to give me a deathly stare. "Let it... all..."

There was a brief pause.

" **END**!" he shouted out before forcefully lunging at me and knocking me down.

"Hrnngh! Shit!" I muttered out as I found my own body being sore and aching in pain. I quickly got up, just to see Leon get ever so close to me.

"Resilient. I hate that in a man," he said before attacking.

 **SLASH**

"Ah! Why?!" I yelped out as I felt a sharp sting on my forearm. The wound in my arm had gotten bigger. Another attack was coming my way, aimed right at my throat.

"AH!" I gritted as I clasped the incoming blade with the palms of my hands, stopping it in place. I didn't know how much strength I put in stopping his attack, but it was enough to draw my own blood.

"Huh?!" he grunted as he quickly withdrew his sword.

 **PUNCH**

Seeing the opportunity to strike, I hastily uppercutted his face with all the power I got. His face and bone felt like metal when it collided with my fist.

"Ah! You damn **RASCAL**!" he shouted out furiously as his nose started to bleed more. I quickly clutched my arm wound and backed off.

As I stepped away once again, I noticed something peculiar about Leon. Specifically, something on his wrist.

"T-That bracelet..." I said to myself. "It glowed bright red when I punched him..."

* * *

Dan, you think it's right just to leave those blokes there?" Jerry timidly asked as they sluggishly walked out. They were just going outside, a few feet from the entrance.

"Probably, it's best if we don't get involved. As long as we stay there, none of us are going to come out in one piece," he advised as he hopped some steps ahead.

"Not get involved? Why the hell would you do that?" George questioned as it furrowed its dogoo eyebrows. "Are we seriously considering abandoning this opportunity in front of us?"

"Huh? Opportunity? There is no opportunity back there for us. Our job is already done here," Dan remarked solemnly. The three other dogoos beg to differ.

"So you think ending the persecution of dogoos doesn't count as an opportunity?" Wesley curiously asked.

"Ending persecution?" The idea seemed to have intrigued Dan.

"That's an opportunity indeed, but how the hell do we do that?" Dan asked as it turned to face its three friends.

"Well, if we convince the CPUs that we have gone straight, then maybe we can make a name for ourselves in the cities. Our comrades would want to join in, as they also would want to escape the terrors of being hunted down," George explained.

"Yes. Do you realize that we are the only dogoos that got to have diplomatic relations with those CPUs? It could be the start of a change, a change that starts with us," Wesley added.

"Starts with us? Heh, I always wanted to make a grand change in this world," Dan mentioned. "I guess it couldn't hurt to try. They did have the heart to spare Jerry..."

 _"It's going to be the start of a new life if this succeeds."_

* * *

Is the device destroyed yet?" Uni asked out loud. The shield projector seemed to look in extreme disrepair due to its intake of repeated attacks.

"Almost!" Purple Heart announced before striking one more blow on the device.

 **BOOM**

The final attack caused the projector to explode into a mess of circuit boards and rusted gears.

"Now it's done for," Purple Heart announced before reuniting with her allies. The seemingly impregnable shield slowly started to fade away, leaving the two combatants inside vulnerable to attack. With the primal-like brawling going on between the two siblings, the shield disappearing didn't faze them one bit. As all the CPUs observed for a short moment, they were at each other's throats, scrambling for a victory.

" **ARGH! WHY WON'T YOU DIE**?!" Leon shouted out in pure frustration as he grabs a hold of Mikey's wrist.

 **PUNCH**

Mikey got another strike at Leon's face, angering the villain even more.

"RRRGH!" he grunted in fury as he started to squeeze the boy's wrist. Mikey started to open his eyes wide as he realized the extreme danger he was in. It felt like his bone was going to pierce through his skin.

" **LET IT BREAK MORTAL! LET IT BREAK**!" Leon coaxed in a sadistic tone. " **LET. IT. BRE** -"

 **OOMPH**

"Huh?!" Mikey grunted out as he felt the pressure on his wrist completely disappear. He slowly got up and found Leon, face down on the ground with a large bullet hole in his hip. It was like he was shot from the-

"Uni?!" Mikey called out as he realized the shield was gone.

"Did somebody order a beatdown?" Noire sarcastically asked. In the distance, the possessed boy suddenly got up, his sword being left carelessly on the ground.

"Oh no," Mikey muttered out as he backed away once again into the group of CPUs. Nepgear immediately sat the boy down to comfort his wounds and aches.

"Who shot me..?" Leon calmly asked as he started to inspect his gunshot wound. "Heheheheh..." he creepily giggled, eyeing each of the CPUs and of the candidates. "I-Is everyone here already?" he asked as he started to hold on to his own wrist.

"Yeah, and we're here to end the terror here once and for all!" Purple Heart heroically announced. Leon simply laughed at the proposition.

"Oh, are you guys the new generation of heroes in Gamindustri? Simple girls that go around causing a mess out of everything?" he derisively asked as he stared at the bracelet.

"Now what are you saying Leon? Aren't you just a wicked boy wanting to cause death to your own brother?" Vert asked m.

"Pfft. He's not my brother, he's just the host's sibling. You don't know what I am because I'm the one that are pulling the strings."

"W-What are you saying?" Nepgear asked impatiently.

"What I'm saying is that you will **NEVER** vanquish me. Even if you kill this innocent soul, nothing will **CHANGE** , because I can find someone **ELSE** to do my dirty work! This host in particular, features qualities that are much akin to my past life," he observed before giving a deathly stare at Mikey.

"T-Then why don't you frighten leave my bro alone huh?! You made me think that he was the worst person in the world!" Mikey argued angrily as he cringed in pain. The candidate was trying to treat his arm.

"Oh it's amazing how **FOOLISH** you are dear mortal. Now, I'll be glad to fight all of you girls at once, but I have a target that needs to be **KILLED** immediately..."

Mikey backed up a fair distance away from Leon once again; fear has taken a strong hold on the boy's mentality.

"I guess that agenda won't be completed anytime soon then," Noire remarked, sparking a bit of anger from Leon. "Why don't you just go back to where you came from, and let this innocent civilian go?"

"Not in a million years," he coldly answered as he eyed his abandoned sword. "Now, shall we **FIGHT** once more?" he excitedly asked with a big grin as he started to approach his weapon.

 _"That won't be needed master."_

"Hm?" Leon turned his sight to the source of the voice which happened to be a dogoo. "Dan?!"

"Don't forget the three of us wanker," Jerry announced as its friends Wesley and George revealed themselves from the dark.

"It's you freaking dogoos! I was wondering where you pawns were!" Leon said as he realized one of the dogoos has gotten his sword. "Now, if you would give that ba-"

 **BOOM**

"Watch it Leon," George warned as it pumped its shotgun again. The area in front of Leon was filled with bullet holes.

"It's time for this to end Leon," Dan proclaimed before taking its firearm out.

"W-What?! What are you fools doing?!" he asked in confusion before trying to wrestle the gun away from the dogoo. " **AH**!" Leon screamed out suddenly. Blood started to pour from his nose, covering the sides of his mouth with a crimson shade.

" **MY HEAD! WHAT'S HAPPENING**?!"

And the last thing Mikey saw, was a glimpse of his brother staring at him before collapsing onto the floor.

* * *

 **Omake 17: The Adventure of the Hour**

Because when you go with Neptune on one of her crazy ideas, you're asking for a rough day. A day that certainly is boring and random but it certainly is a lot more dangerous. It's how all adventures go really...

"So Neppy, where are we?" Mikey asked as he stared out into the mountainous landscape with a calm expression. "Because last time we checked, we were SUPPOSED to go to the grocery store," he said in an annoyed tone. Instead of going to a grocery store, they ended up on a mountain. Somehow.

"Oh calm down! A little detour never hurt anyone," she claimed with an innocent expression. "I mean, I don't even know how we got here, and I'm the hero!"

"Well how do we go back?" the boy asked as he sat with Neptune on a tree log. The girl was kicking her legs into the air, bored about all the inaction going on. Secretly, she hoped for a thrill in this place, but she won't tell Mikey that.

"I'm not sure," she casually said before seeing the boy's growing weariness of the situation.

 **RUFFLE RUFFLE**

A random snow-covered bush started to shake as something was moving inside it.

"Hmm? Did I see that move?" Mikey curiously inquired as he looked up at the bush.

When he had his sights on the foliage, the bush remained stationary. The boy has seen quite a few strange moving bushes so far, so he knew something was up. It wasn't long before Neptune noticed where his attention was directed at.

"Ooh! Why are you staring at a bush?" Neptune inquired, making Mikey feel a bit dumb for staring at a plant for twenty seconds straight.

"Because it looks suspicious," he oddly replied. It seems that the boy might be a bit of a plant racist.

Neptune, confused, looked back and forth between the bush and Mikey, seeing no reasonable reason for him to stare at a bush. She thought the boy was just "checking out" the bush.

But all of a sudden, the bush started to randomly hop away by itself, leaving a wide gap in its place. This immediately gave the boy to be in high alert, as the CPU started to notice the strangeness of their location. That's when they started to hear an impending rumble.

A rumble, that seems like it comes from the sound of a bunch of falling rocks.

 **"AVALANCHE!"**

* * *

"You know, I appreciate how we both got out of that predicament," Mikey observed as he looked around at his surroundings.

All around him were blocky landscapes. Literally blocky landscapes, as in the terrain was made up of 3D squares. Too bad you can't actually do anything with the land though. Even with this strange new land they were in, he was at least glad that they made it out safely.

"But what will Nepgear think if she sees us missing?"

"She'll probably be mad that we left without notice, that's for sure," Neptune warned before getting up and looking around. She spotted a tall green blocky monster which somehow resembled a cucumber. "Huh, never seen that baddy before."

"I think we shouldn't mess with it," Mikey advised as he looked at the monster himself. When he turned to look back, he saw something that was trying to creep up on the CPU.

"NEPTUNE WATCH OHT!" he called out.

"What?" she asked before turning around. She was greeted by a friendly face of a block monster.

Oops, the narrator meant that the monster was pissed.

 **BOOM**

* * *

"Mikey! Sis! What happened to you both?!" Nepgear asked as she saw them both on the couch, looking like they had a hell of a day.

"Uhh.. we went grocery shopping," Mikey slowly said out, before leaning on an equally tired Neptune.

"Grocery shopping? A-Anything happen there?" Nepgear asked worriedly.

"Yeah! We went to the wrong grocery store! Turns out the mountain is a pretty bad place to find groceries," she said jokingly.

"You owe me so much food for this Neppy," Mikey mentioned.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes:**_

 _ **First of all, I'd like to address that this story is now one year old! Thank you, readers and writers for the continued support because your comments and reviews really help me to continue with this project. I wanted to make this chapter a bit short so we can move onto the next part. School is also coming up so writing might take a bit longer to finish.**_

 _ **As always have a beautiful time!**_

 _ **30k views Wowie!**_

 _ **Omake random updated help help might take a short brake**_


	32. Large Liable Life

**Chapter 32: Large Liable Life**

* * *

Because _, who really knows what happened back there?_

 _He fell down, and after that, I couldn't remember much._

 _What happens to him now?_

* * *

"You better take good care of that lad," Dan advised as he overlooked a sleeping boy in a bed. The boy in question was a docile dormant Leon who seemed pale all around. Accompanying Dan was Mikey and Nepgear, a boy that didn't want to know the details and a candidate that was simply curious. All Mikey did was stare, thinking about what the hell just happened back there. All Nepgear did was observe, noticing the bloodied bandages on Mikey's arm.

"I-I feel like getting some fresh air," Mikey started as he looked towards the doorway. "Do you mind if you come with me?" he timidly asked, surprising the candidate.

"Sure! I'm always happy to keep you company," she replied, getting a small smile from the boy.

It wasn't long before they got outside, and before you knew it, they were already sitting down at a nearby bench. The evening breeze quickly swept in, chilling the folks outside.

"So Mikey, what brings you out here?" Nepgear curiously asked as she sat close to the boy for warmth.

"Just wanted to see the outside. That's all," Mikey casually answered. "And, to help get my mind off the physical pain."

"Oh is that so? I wonder why you wanted me out here," the candidate curiously said before looking up to see a branch covered in green leaves. Mikey simply shook his head while trying to keep a neutral expression.

"Eh well, maybe it's because I have a little surprise for you," Mikey innocently mentioned, garnering Nepgear's attention.

"Surprise? W-Where?" she asked with intrigue. It seems the air around here has gotten a lot warmer.

"I guess you have to find out, preferably by closing your eyes," the boy quickly said before trying to whistle.

"C-Closing my eyes? W-What's that going to do?" she asked as she looked around her surroundings to find some sort of a hint.

"You'll have to find out. Be prepared while you're at it," he said while shooting her a smirk.

Prepared? What was she going to prepare for? There was only one way to find out what all the vague messages were leading up to.

"Fine, I'll bite. This better be good Mikey!" she said before closing her eyes. All she could see was nothing, waiting patiently for Mikey's supposed surprise. Deep down, she hoped that it was something clever to surprise her.

 _Something that wou-_

"Eek!" she squealed inside as she felt something warm touch her cheek. It felt almost like a...

As she immediately opened her eyes, she saw the boy laid back on the bench, looking up at the sky like nothing happened. She couldn't see his face, which is good for Mikey. A daring act like that would make any love-struck full red.

"H-Hey? D-D-Did you do what I-I just think you did?" she timidly questioned the culprit as she rubbed her cheek. She could feel herself blushing as thoughts ran through her head.

"Hmm? What are you talking about?" the boy asked while acting confused to avoid feeling embarrassed. His face gave it away still.

"Y-Y-You just! J-Just!" she started before pausing to go over her thoughts. "T-That was... t-that..." she pouted.

"You're cute when you're flustered," Mikey commented as he gave a smile and looked away. She couldn't see what he was feeling right now. She can't.

"Don't change the subject mister! M-My heart wasn't ready for that you know!" She could see herself turn into a tomato. It was just a flurry of emotions that she wasn't ready for yet. It wasn't unpleasant at all, except that it was a bit overwhelming. She wasn't paying attention after all.

"Well, I hope your heart knows," he said with a hopeful smile before leaning his head on the back of the bench. He gave off a sigh, as he felt nervousness get a hold of him. This made him a bit tired.

"Knows what?" she asked as her redness started to die down. The boy didn't answer, letting her figure out the answer to what her heart knows.

All she stood was sit there, as the boy appeared to take a quick nap on the outside, thinking about what just happened.

"D-D-Does he l-love me?" she spoke to herself as she got a closer look at the boy. It looked like another weight was taken off his face, as if he had done something he felt was way out of his comfort zone. Why would he just do that out of the blue?

Wanting to confirm her answer, she woke the boy up from his less-than-a-minute nap and took in a deep breath.

"This is going to be so embarrassing..." she muttered out as her body felt a rising heat. It seems everything felt warm to her.

"I love you. I love you, Mikey," she timidly said as she was fiddling with fingers in anxiousness. This feeling was so intense for her, but she went ahead and did it anyway.

Mikey didn't know what to do. He did expect something but he never expected feeling like a hot sweaty mess inside. It was like those three words broke away his indifference, pushing him to the only thing he really wanted to do.

To just give a smile. A smile backed up by an avalanche of happiness followed by a red shade of red.

"I, uh..." he started, "I uh... j-just don't know what to say..."

He gave off a breath as he wanted to hide his expression, but he couldn't force himself to do it.

"Uhh, you're s-so sweet Nepgear..." he quietly said before taking a gulp. Can't he just get the message across without saying it?

"W-Well, uhm, just to get the truth out... then... I-I love you too!" he confessed at the end before trying to find a way to escape the situation, but life just doesn't work that way.

"Aww... I can't believe I said that.." he muttered out before feeling the hot embrace of his lover. He couldn't budge before she let go five seconds after.

"Heh, you know, it's kind of funny..." Nepgear sheepishly started, "only been just a few weeks, and I've already grown so fond of you.

"What did you think of me the first time you saw me here?" Mikey curiously asked.

"Honestly, I just thought you were some boy that my sister wanted to take home. Never really expected you to stay here with us, but you did, starting with that night. Now we've been through so much."

"Well, you probably didn't know that I was from a different world, so really I was homeless here!" he pointed out as he laughed awkwardly. "I really appreciate how you guys let me stay there for so long," he said sincerely.

"Oh, it's no problem! Me and sis love having you around, so stay as you like in your home with us. I just hope you don't leave now. Y-You won't leave, right?"

All the boy did was pat the candidate on the head, teasing her.

"H-Hey! What's that about?"

"Come on, I won't leave you," he reassured as he gave her a smile.

"Oh, okay," she spoke in relief before leaning her head on Mikey's shoulder. "T-That makes me very happy..."

"Maybe we should head back, it's getting a bit chilly out here," the boy advised as he noticed someone at the front door of the clinic.

"Well, I guess you have to keep me warm then!"

* * *

"Ooh! What are those two doing out there?" Neptune curiously asked before thinking up her own answer. "I wonder who fell first."

As the two approached her location, she noticed a pretty glaring red on both of their cheeks. All the signs pointed to one answer.

"O-Oh Neptune!" Mikey greeted as he and Nepgear stopped by her. "W-What brings you out here?" he said before pretending the outside was extremely cold.

"The plot. Gotta say I'm not disappointed though," she smirked as she noticed the couple was holding hands. "I see you're stepping up your game Mikey," she pointed out.

"Neptune, we were only out there for like five minutes," the boy tried to inform the ditzy girl, but the CPU already knew what happened. She reveled in teasing him.

"Five minutes is 300 seconds, and I recall that 300 is a pretty big number," the purple CPU pointed out before grinning. "300 separate opportunities for something to happen!"

Mikey rushed off after hearing that statement, causing her and her sister to run off after him.

"Hey?! What's the big idea in running off like that?" Neptune said in a slightly annoyed tone. "Can't a Neppy be curious?"

"Well, h-he did sorta admit something to me out there, maybe that's it," Nepgear suggested as she smiled a bit.

"A-Admit what? I'm your sister, you can tell me!" she convinced.

"H-He actually admitted, t-that he actually, a-actually l-loves me!" Nepgear said in an excited but quiet tone.

"Ooh! Another one of these lovey-dicey moments! D-Do you reciprocate that though?"

"Of course I do! I know you've seen me at times right? I become such an embarrassing pile of red sometimes..."

"Heh, you know those are the moments I save," she vaguely mentioned.

They soon arrived back to the room where Leon was kept in, bed-ridden and injured from who-knows-what. Mikey was standing in front of the doorway.

"EEK!" he yelped out as he felt a sudden hand touch his shoulder. "Oh phew, it's just you guys..."

"You are so correcto! Anyway, what are my friends going to do about your evil possessed brother?"

"Eh, I'm not sure... He came here before me so I can't tell what crimes he had committed before meeting me," Mikey said with uncertainty as he looked away.

"Well, they did find an odd bracelet on him when he collapsed. It was glowing red with a pretty nasty aura. Maybe something like that had to do with this?" Nepgear suggested as she walked in to take in the scene.

"Ah, you guys are back," Uni called out as Noire found Neptune messing around in the doorway. "I was wondering why you two suddenly headed out."

"Oh it was nothing big, Mikey just wanted to tell me something, that's all," Nepgear explained. "I think the question is, what are we going to do with Leon?"

"We're not sure yet, but his series of international crimes might decide his fate. I'm beginning to think that he was under some sort of control," Vert pondered as she found the bracelet at one of the tables near the bed. "I just wonder where he found this object."

The four dogoos in the room noticed the bracelet afterward, prompting one of them to point it out.

"Oh shit, i-it's that damned thing!" Dan yelled out as the slime-ball made sure nobody touched it. "W-When Leon came out of that dungeon, I saw a new thing wrapped around his wrist, and if I recall correctly... that was the shit he came out with!"

"What the hell are you talking about mate? It's just a literally bloody bracelet. It's probably for show or some rubbish," Jerry said.

"You don't understand! There's a reason monsters stay the hell away from that area, a really good reason."

"Why is that?" George asked.

"Because... that area is haunted, cursed by the inhabitants that died long ago. Vengeful, restless, the fellow monsters around here warned me of odd things that happen near there. They told me stories of where the people they venture in, find themselves hijacked, unable to control any aspect of their own brain," Dan explained in horror as the revelation got everyone a bit antsy.

"Are you just trying to scare us, Danny?" Jerry skeptically asked.

"Why in the hell did you let Leon go through the dungeon then?!" Wesley asked.

"Because our minds weren't in the damn right place okay?! And besides, he really wanted to check it out, who were we to stop a rising star?"

"Yeah, but now he's hit rock bottom," George commented.

"And that's why we need to destroy that thing! It caused way too much needless destruction already."

"Destroy it? Won't that be as simple as just breaking it?" Noire curiously asked.

"Only one way to find out!" Neptune said.

It was a relatively simple task of destroying the accursed item. Being that it was probably hundreds of years old, it gave off no resistance when it was struck only once. But it's curse didn't come from its durability.

"Wow! That was easy," the CPU commented as she walked back into the room, only to find everybody shocked and spooked at the same time.

In the bed where Leon was, was just an empty spot. Nobody seen him get up or move at all, but instead, he simply disappeared.

 **"What the fu-"**

* * *

 **Omake 18: Metal Doppelgängers**

Robots are capable of doing many odd and basic things. Some can walk, some can talk, and others can even turn. Nepgear was one of the few people who could turn robots into something more than they actually are. She's the one that would make people question whether science has gone too far.

It wouldn't be fair to say that she was always obsessed with making stuff, but people would be lying if they said she didn't care. She made robots to suit her own purpose or experiment, she sometimes made it to see how it would act or go. It was important to note that on some days, Mikey and Neptune weren't at home, but she was still there, alone. There's something she can do with all this free time right? Something that can alleviate her symptoms.

"Y-Yes! Neptune and Mikey! You've returned so soon!" Nepgear exclaimed happily as she gazed upon her two inventions. The two automatons had a striking resemblance to the two people she knew dearly. It seems she was trying to fulfill her dreams in her free time, a dream that can only be achieved with her own two hands and a set of tools.

She was alone in her workshop with all the lights in the room focused on her. The two robots were barely seen in the room, but they were clearly there. She knew they were there, she definitely knew. Even in the back of her mind there was doubt, her robotic passions clouded her reason, and all she could really see was them.

"N-Now, for me to turn this on, s-so they can come back once again," she said before pushing the red button on each robot.

 **BEEP**

And with such a simple quiet beep, her friends finally returned. They were there, right in her workshop starting to get up and move, almost like their actual counterparts. These doppelgängers had a weird but confident stride, had a expression of a bored human, and had a heart of steel gold. They were always there after all, they had no true liberty. No true personality.

As Nepgear knew they were there, she gleefully, blissfully asked a question. It all felt like a surreal trance for the candidate.

"Want to play guys?"

"Ugh, life ain't treating me so pretty," Mikey uttered out as he walked through the door with a heavy slouch. It seemed every atom of his body was sore and hurt.

"I mean fighting those things were never pretty," Neptune added as she trudged through the door with a heavy limp. "But hey! We finished it though!"

"I guess you're right, maybe l need to rest because I might be seeing things right now," Mikey noted as he noticed another Neptune in the distance. He looked back at the Neptune standing to next to him. "I-I think my eyes are deceiving me right now."

"I'm sure your eyes always do that sorta thing. They always play tricks on me too!" she said as she noticed another Mikey in the distance. It wasn't long before she even spotted herself. "Wait! Why is me over there when I'm over here?" she asked.

"I don't know. Let's check it out so we know it's not a mirror," Mikey suggested as he went over to where the two robotic clones were. Neptune soon followed.

As they got closer and got a better look, the two noticed that their robotic doubles were with Nepgear, who seemed to be oblivious to the whole situation.

"Hey sis! What's with these robo-clones hanging around in the Basilicom?" Neptune loudly questioned, catching the attention of the robots and Nepgear.

"W-Wha-? Who are you?" She soon noticed the real Mikey standing nearby. "Who are you people?" she asked.

"Do you not remember us Nepgear?" Mikey asked. As he got a good glance at his metallic counterpart, he realized this was a product of a girl who knows robots best. Surely this was a joke!

"I-I honestly don't know," Nepgear replied.

"Hey I'm Neptune and that guy there is Mikey, simple! Do you remember now?"

"W-What are you talking about? These people are Neptune and Mikey," the candidate dearly pointed out.

"Affirmative," responded Robot-Neptune.

"Correct," answered Robot-Mikey. Both robots had a very bad voice, a voice where people can immediately tell that they bleed oil instead of blood.

"I-I haven't seen you two around these parts, who let you guys into the Basilicom?" Nepgear asked the two.

"Uhh, can metal make you forget things?" Mikey discreetly asked Neptune by whispering.

"I don't know! Maybe the robot thingies are trying to replace us or something! Maybe that's why she can't remember us because she thinks we're them!" she whispered a bit loudly, perking the candidate's attention. She was expecting an answer signal led by clearing her throat.

"Nepgear, it's me, Neptune! Your older sister pal, your best friend!" she rambled on trying to jog her memory. It didn't seem to get through to Nepgear though.

"And it's me, your favorite lazy cooking boy you know and love, Mikey!" he eagerly said before realizing how weird it was to just announce what he was. Nonetheless, it was in vain.

"Huh? Wha-? W-What are you people saying?" Nepgear asked in confusion.

"We're saying is that those robots are imposters!" Neptune pointed out.

"M-My friends, imposters? Lies! I think you're the ones trying to deceive me," Nepgear rebutted as she stayed close to her robotic companions. Her eyes had seemed to be vacant of reason. "I-I'm starting to think that you guys are trouble!"

"T-Trouble, what? Us? No way, you have to believe us!" Mikey said.

The candidate shook her head.

"My sister and my love are right here by my side. You people are trying to take that away from me!"

The robots started to approach Neptune and Mikey with not-ask-friendly expressions. They seemed to tower over them even though they were the same height.

"Show them how you beat evil!" Nepgear shouted out, almost like a command.

 **BAM**

 **OOMPH**

"Ugh..."

"Ouchie..."

As soon as she peeked at the damage done to the supposed evil-doers, she immediately gasped as she snapped out of her trance. She immediately turned her robots off and ran straight to where they were.

"Oh my, what have I done! Neptune! Mikey!" she yelled out before hugging the both of them in her arms. "W-Why did I hurt them..? Why? They're going to be so mad," she said to herself as she let go in fear.

"Oh my, Nepgear recognizes us Mikey!" Neptune shouted out in joy, making her forget about the pain. "I freaking absorbed your impact Mikey, you owe me something after this," she warned as the boy slowly got up from the ground.

"Hey, you landed on me. You should be the one owing me," he defiantly said before looking at the distraught Nepgear.

Without warning, the candidate hugged tightly onto Mikey, not letting him go from her grasp.

"F-Forgive me, I-I just felt a bit lonely when you guys left so I just made myself robot companions. I-I didn't think they would hurt you guys." Her voice was muffled and sounded almost like sobbing. She thought that her actions would garner hatred from her former loved ones, but of course, she was wrong.

"Aww, it's all right. Everyone screws up once in a while. All is forgiven so just throw your worries away!" Mikey said in a cheery tone. He still felt sore in his body.

"Yup! We came back to see if you wanted to come with us. Didn't know you were finishing a tech-y project in here," Neptune remarked before trying to comfort her little sister. "Those are some pretty strong robots if I say so myself, and I'm the hero here!"

"H-Huh?" Nepgear asked before letting go of Mikey once again. All she could see around her was friendly smiles, letting her fears slowly erode away. She realized what was going on, putting a small smile on her face.

"I love you guys!"

* * *

After that, they went out on another quest together.

"Where in the hell are we?!" Mikey shouted out in shock as saw the whole terrain was surrounded by lava and erupting volcanos.

"Well, I'm sure hell has a map around somewhere, let's go acquire it!" Neptune casually said before looking around.

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: Ya**_

 _ **I did it**_

 _ **Has beauties time reading and wroting**_

 _ **School is hard but whatever**_

 _ **Will try to update more often**_

 _ **Lots of text? Lots of text? Lots of text? Lots of text?**_

 **Omake done boi boi I'm a week late forgives pls**


	33. Gilded Gorgeous Guilds

**Chapter 33: Gilded Gorgeous Guilds**

* * *

 _Because, at the end of the day, you're going to have to work like the rest of us. That means to avoid being coaxed into another one of Neptune's crazy ideas._

* * *

After the strange but convenient disappearance of Leon, the next best thing was to go to simply return to Planeptune. The bracelet allegedly came from one of the dungeons, and investigating the cursed dungeon seemed perfectly safe and logical. It was a bit jarring for my brother to vanish like that, but with what I've seen so far, I knew an explanation was going to speak out.

Noire and Vert left the job to us.

Only the Planeptune sisters, the four dogoos, and I were going back to Planeptune. They opted to come with us with great enthusiasm and eagerness so they stuck along with us.

"Imagine that, flying while being held by a CPU, now that's something my dogoo comrades won't believe," Dan remarked as he observed the living room. They gathered at the Basilicom, it was Neptune's go-to spot.

"Alright alright, when are we going to that haunted dungeon to find some answers? This is getting weirder by the millisecond," I said a bit impatiently, catching Neptune's attention.

"I think it's best if we head to the guild and see IF there. She'll probably know stuff about that area," Neptune advised. "Hopefully she'll have info on where the heck your brother went."

"NEPTUNE!" a shouted voice suddenly appeared

"Wha! H-Historie!"

Neptune quickly did a 180-degree turn. She ended facing an angry book fairy.

"What were you doing taking Michael all the way to Leanbox?" she asked skeptically as she sized up the poor CPU.

"Uhh, we were trying to catch a villain but the villain disappeared so we came here," Neptune responded.

"Is that why Michael is covered in bandages?"

"Yup! Collateral damage always occurs," the CPU remarked.

"Does that involve having four dogoos in the Basilicom?" she asked sarcastically.

"Wot? Is that little gal talking 'bout us?" Jerry questioned. Historie gave the dogoo with an attitude a death stare, getting Jerry to be silent.

"Maaaybe..." Neptune said with a shrug.

"What does that mean..?" Historie asked, making Neptune a bit nervous.

"Uhh, it means that-WE HAVE TO GET OUTTA HERE!" she suddenly shouted out.

"W-Wait Neptune!" I called out. It was no use, she was steamrolling down the hallway faster than the speed of light and sound combined.

"That Neptune is too much," Historie remarked.

* * *

It was no surprise when they saw Neptune at the guild. She was talking to IF while repeatedly panting. Maybe her little sprint got her exhausted, Mikey wouldn't expect it from a person like Neptune.

"I-Is that Mikey?" IF quickly noticed with a bit of shock.

Last time she saw him was when she and her friends captured Leon. It was odd how he and Nepgear left the day after that. Neptune promptly left too, saying some babble about adventure or what not.

From here, she could only imagine the existing ailments the boy went through. Did he get into a lot of fights with more baddies? The bandages seemed to be saying yes.

She quickly made her way over to where he was at.

"Mikey, where have you been all this time?" IF greeted with a question, catching the boy off guard.

"A-And what are those four monsters doing here?!" she yelled in shock as she noticed four intimidating-looking dogoos looking around.

"O-Oh relax IF! T-These guys are good!" Nepgear spoke before the spooked girl could do anything rash.

"G-Good dogoos? Eh?" IF asked in a now confused tone.

"Yup, it's a long story," Nepgear remarked.

"I'd figure it's a long story. Neptune was just telling me about it starting with how she found you two in Lastation. Pretty odd if you tell me right?" she asked.

"Well it becomes a lot less odd once you find out that dogoos talk and bracelets are cursed," Mikey responded while giving off a deep yawn. Adventuring takes so much out of a man.

"Yeah, dogoos talk," IF repeated before giving one of the four dogoos a distrustful look. Jerry took notice.

"Aye, does this young lady think we are wankers or something?" Jerry loudly asked, trying to get IF to stop watching them. The girl stopped, only to mutter something under her breath.

"So uh, anyway, we were trying to find out about a haunted dungeon. Any info about that?" Nepgear casually questioned.

"Haunted dungeon? Haunted in what way?" IF asked with a raised brow.

"There are different ways?" Neptune interjected.

"I don't know, the haunted where spirits of dead people roaming around? That type of haunted?" Mikey suggested, only imagining what the hell was going to be in this dungeon. "Oh wait! These dogoos know!"

"Way to pass the baton Michael," Dan sarcastically remarked.

"You were the ones that went in there, right?" Mikey skeptically asked.

"Your brother went in there, not us," Dan corrected. "I'd rather not see what the hell is down there."

"B-But, you guys are monsters..." IF said in disbelief. "What kind of monsters are you guys?!"

"We're not sure. Never saw ourselves as monsters..." Dan observed.

"Then what the hell happened with Mikey then?" IF asked in a concerned tone.

"I think we need to go outside, we're causing a bit of a ruckus in here," Nepgear advised while looking around.

* * *

After a long back and forth between the four dogoos and IF, the group finally undertook the expedition.

The paths leading to this allegedly haunted dungeon were surprisingly well kept. The dirt path that dug into the ground was smooth and straight. It was another adventure for the gang.

"You know Nepgear, I'm not so keen on going to a place filled with ghosts," Mikey mentioned as he was walking at a leisurely pace.

"That's why I'm making sure nothing goes wrong," she replied while narrowing her eyes when she looked at Mikey. She knew that he was vulnerable, but the boy went a long way to cover that up. What can you really do when you're an injured human here?

 _What if Mikey meets the same fate as Leon in that same accursed dungeon?_

Nepgear preferred to not think about the "worst-case scenarios". Just the thought of one of these situations makes her shudder.

"Don't worry Nepgear, I'll be careful," Mikey reassured as he put on a smile. However, the only things the candidate could see was his bandaged arm. She knew it would heal, but she knew that he wasn't invincible.

Eventually, the gang came to the infamous dungeon. The entrance to the dungeon was just a small building, seemingly plopped in the middle of the forest. The building was adorned with clay-like sculptures resembling the figures of idols. Since it had no door, it was easy to see that a staircase leading down took up the small room.

"What in the world? That's a dungeon?" Neptune asked in disbelief. "This looks more like a subway than a haunted ruin."

"Maybe the real evil is just down the stairs," George suggested. "I've heard tales of cursed treasure and wandering souls. Frankly, it gives me the goosebumps."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move enter quickly so we can leave quickly later," Dan instructed as the dogoo approached the staircase. The three other dogoos joined in.

The CPU candidate quickly took a step back in surprise.

"W-Wait, we're going down there already?" she asked hesitantly.

"It's getting dark, better make a move on before we see apparitions up here," IF advised.

"Yeah! Spooky ghosts got nothing on a raiding party!" Neptune confirmed.

"Heh, easy for you to say. I don't think swords and guns will kill the undead," Mikey said before letting out a nervous sigh. "Well, let's just get through this quickly. Gear, you in?"

Nepgear nodded her head.

"Don't worry lads, we'll make this little rubbish of a quest easy and rapid."

* * *

Surprisingly, none of us saw any spooky, half-transparent half-white ghosts inside this underground dungeon. It was all just silence with quiet ambiance lurking in every room.

It was a good thing that I had people and dogoos to talk or else I would've probably been screwed. It's just the walls and the darkness of this whole dungeon that gets to me.

I just wonder though, how my brother has been through here all by himself! How the hell does he get through this?

"All I see is a bunch of old relics," IF observed. "Strange how this place feels so abandoned yet I feel something is still here."

"Don't scare me like that IF," I nervously said. Ghosts are goddamn scary. They are the douchebags you can't touch.

"I'm just joking! I'm pretty sure we're fine as long as we're careful."

"These cursed treasures seem extremely repulsive," George noted as the dogoo hopped slowly along. "Who even made these?"

"P-Probably the p-people who were here a long long time ago," Nepgear nervously answered as she gazed at the unsettling walls. She was by my side since we entered the dungeon. "If only I was in my workshop again..." she muttered out. I didn't like seeing her scared like this, makes my situation seem worse.

"You know, what are we even looking for?" Neptune curiously asked.

"Answers," Dan answered. The dogoo noticed something on the ground. Quickly hopping over to it, that something was an ancient piece of writing. When everyone started to see what Dan found, I saw that it was written in some language that I would probably never recognize.

The writing was all dots and dashes with some swirls on the side. It's like if Morse code got scribbled all over by a kid.

"Ah bugger, written in this dead rubbish language. Who the hell can read this crap?" Jerry the dogoo complained.

"I can!" George enthusiastically responded.

"Nobody asked you smartass dogoo," Dan remarked.

"Psh, you're just jealous that I'm smart," the dogoo snidely replied before reading the paper. "Huh, that's odd, this doesn't make any sense."

"What do you mean? Spit it out, George!" Wesley demanded.

"It only says 'Watch your back' over and over again. Kind of creepy if you ask me."

"But we are in a group, we always got a back to watch," Neptune informed.

"Yeah, or just be careful," IF added.

Suddenly the ground shook fiercely for a good second, catching everyone off guard.

"Oh crap, what was that?" I asked as I looked to see if everyone was okay.

"I-I don't know-Ah!"

The ground shook for two seconds longer like a mini mini earthquake.

"Oh shit, is this crap shack gonna collapse?" Dan asked. "I think we need to go NOW."

" **MWAHAHAHA!** " A pained ghostly laugh could be heard in the room. " **YOU MORTALS HAVE STUMBLED ONTO YOUR OWN GRAVES!** "

"What? Who said that?!" I asked as I looked around to find the source of the voice.

"Yeah! Show yourself!" Neptune called out.

"Or don't..." Nepgear muttered as she got closer to me.

" **HOW CAN I SHOW MYSELF IF YOU CAN SEE ME ALREADY? I CONTROL THIS WRETCHED PLACE, NO ONE WILL LEAVE ALIVE!** "

"Oh really you clear white wanker? Big talk, but what is you're dumb ass gonna do mate?" Jerry mocked.

 **SMASH**

Out of nowhere, sections of the walls started to collapse and crumble down. Behind these walls were armored skeletons buried deep into the dirt behind it. They seemed lifeless at first, but soon they started to slowly, slowly move. It was like they were coming alive out of nowhere.

" **GET THEM, MY MINIONS. SLAY THEIR HEARTS OHT WITH YOUR DEAD HANDS!** "

"Eek! Spooky skeletons!" Neptune screamed out.

* * *

 **Omake 19: Holidays**

"HEY! Do you mind helping out just a little bit?!" Mikey asked in annoyance.

"Hmm, lemme think for a second. No," she quickly replied as she continued to lay on her couch. "Besides, it's almost time for dinner, so wipe that angry look off your face Mikey!"

The boy sighed as he stared back at the table prepared for a feast.

"I guess you won't be having any of the dessert then!" he mentioned before heading right back into the kitchen. That last sentence perked up the CPU's attention.

"Wait wait wait! You didn't say that before!" Neptune said as she ran straight into the kitchen. She can't possibly live through the night without the taste of pudding, especially in this festive season.

Entering the kitchen, she saw Nepgear preparing the dessert and Mikey drinking some water. The aroma generated from the food was full of temptation.

"I will help! Please!" Neptune begged.

"Well, set food on the table. I think our friends are gonna arrive very soon, so chop chop Neppy!" Mikey urged, prompting the goddess to rush in and out of the kitchen, plates in her hands.

In just half a minute, the dinner was ready.

"Done!" Neptune announced as Nepgear put the dessert in the fridge to cool. Pudding was clearly a good motivator.

"I'm done too. What should we do now while we wait?" Nepgear asked.

"I know, we need to get festive ourselves! We should have those cute Santa hats and sparkle like the ones they have in the movies!" Neptune suggested.

"Well I'm pretty tired from doing all that cooking. You guys do what you want, I'll just rest on the couch," Mikey said before laying on the couch and closing his eyes.

"My, I never noticed how busy we have been lately," Nepgear observed as she saw her sister running towards the closet.

"That's why we have to help him!" Neptune soon ran back with a hat on her head and another hat in her hands. Stealthily, she managed to put the hat on the napping boy, giving him a more jolly look.

"Oh, I see what you mean," the candidate confirmed as she woke up the boy from his slumber.

"W-Wha-Wha Nepgear...?" he said as he rubbed his eyes and got up.

"Don't think I would let you sleep through a time like this young man," Nepgear warned as she started to play with his hat. "We have food to eat and presents to open, so don't think for one moment that you'll skip it with a nap."

"What do you mean Gear? I know how to take naps, I won't skip it!" Mikey said.

"Hmph, I know that five minutes to you translates to five hours of sleep," Nepgear informed as she gave off a giggle. "But that doesn't matter now because we're all together."

 **KNOCK KNOCK**

"The party's here!" an outside voice announced.

"Oh boy! They're here!" Neptune exclaimed joyfully before opening the door.

"Merry Christmas!"

* * *

"Holy crap that's a lot of gifts," Mikey muttered as he noticed a giant pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree. They were all sitting at the table, talking and eating just like with any other dinner.

"Here Mikey, try this!" Nepgear said before she fed him some pudding. "I know you like dessert from the beginning, so I wanted you taste it first."

Quickly gulping the spoonful down, a joyful bliss overtook Mikey's face.

"Ooooh that's so good!" Mikey yelped our as Nepgear observed with amusement.

"I'm glad you enjoy it, here have some more!"

Neptune soon took notice of her sister feeding Mikey more pudding. The food was great but pudding was always better in her mind.

"Hey Neptune, what's your sister doing?" Noire asked with a slight smirk.

"I-I don't know. Eating I guess," she responded as she looked away from the scene.

"My Nepgear has gotten to be so open with him," Vert observed. "I'm proud but also a little bit worried."

"Anyways, it's so nice for us to get together again," Noire stated. "It's nice to know in the hectic chaos of our lives, the holidays are something that we can always look forward to."

"You can also look forward to getting bested by yours truly," Neptune said. "The best at gifting, eating, drinking, and more!"

"Not everything has to be a competition with you," Blanc said. "I mean, I bet you didn't cook this yourself."

"Of course not! Mikey did! But he's with me so I have his skills!"

"That's not how it works Neptune," Noire said.

"You're just like the grinch!" Neptune pouted.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Finally, an update for this story after two months, it was going to come eventually. So, I'm back from the dead.**_

 _ **Where was I? I was dealing with life, through school, through sickness, through all the regular stuff that takes up time. But now I got past that stuff now hoping to return to my old update schedule.**_

 _ **Anyways, hope you enjoy the new chapter and I would like to thank all of you for your continued support. Happy Thanksgiving! Have a beautiful time reading and writing!**_

 ** _Merry Christmas! Hope you guys have lots of presents and have a great time with your loved ones!_**

 ** _Cheerio!_**


	34. Deadly Danger Dungeon

**Chapter 34: Deadly Danger Dungeon**

* * *

 _Oh great, never thought for a second I would risk my life in an old, possibly perverted dungeon. But now here we are, dealing with all this skeleton spooky madness. All this for some answers on my brother's disappearance._

 _Maybe he wanted to go back home. Maybe he was like me._

* * *

Skeletons slowly gathered up into a huge horde. Most of them have some sort of melee weapon from simple swords to brutal maces. It was like the catacombs was a resting place for an ancient army which fell victim to war and disease in the past.

This ghostly voice was controlling them, ripping these lost souls out of their slumber.

"Oh boy, this quest just became dangerous," IF remarked as she readied her weapons.

"Skeletons eh? We ain't scared of that right dogoos?" Dan asked while pulling out its firearm.

"I don't know, we haven't fought dead things before," George commented. "But I guess there's a first time for everything!"

Soon we all were ready to take on this onslaught of terrible skeletons. I summoned my sword from my handy dandy inventory where I was ready to get some dust on my blade.

" **CHARGE MINIONS!** " the voice yelled out, prompting the wave of bones to come charging toward us.

As we were ready to endure their assault, I felt another earthquake-like shake. I noticed that the stone support to the left of me was extremely worn out, looking like it was about to topple at any moment now.

"Better move somewhere sa-"

 **CRASH**

Suddenly a giant piece of rubble fell from the ceiling, crashing down onto the floor right in front of me. It seemed to have blocked the skeletons' advance towards me, but that didn't stop them from trying to attack my friends.

Running quickly to aid Neptune and Nepgear, I noticed that many of the supports in the dungeon were progressively becoming weaker and weaker.

"Hey! Mikey's her-AH!" Neptune yelped out as she sliced the skull off of another skeleton soldier. Joining them we quickly took care of a sizable part of the army, but there was still much more to go.

 **BOOM**

"How much skellies will this stupid wanker send?" Jerry asked frustratedly as he fired another shot.

"Shoot first ask questions later," Wesley reminded as he bashed a skeleton's skull using the butt of his shotgun. "This is kind of easy."

"Probably cus we are not dead," Dan explained.

 **CRASH**

"Oh shit!"

A giant boulder fell right in front of us, completely blocking the skeletons' assault. The vast chaotic hallway that we were in soon became a lifeless dead end.

"Well that was short," Neptune remarked. "Now what-"

 **CRASH**

A smaller but dangerous boulder fell right behind Neptune, frightening the poor girl. It seems that the place we were in still wasn't safe.

" **MWAHAHAHAHA!** " the pained ghostly voice returned with an even greater laugh. " **YOU THINK I WILL LET YOU PEONS ESCAPE THAT EASILY?! THINK AGAIN! I WILL CRUSH YOU AND YOU WILL SOON JOIN MY MINIONS!** "

Out of nowhere, the ground shook fiercely causing cracks to form on the rocky floor. Bits of rock and dust started to rain down from the ceiling, blocking our line of sight.

"Guys! We need to get out of here!" IF warned before all of us ran back to where we came from.

 **CRASH**

Another huge boulder blocked our exit route, effectively trapping us in this crumbling area.

" **DON'T THINK YOU WILL ESCAPE MY REVENGE!** "

"Oh no! What do we do now?" Nepgear asked. I suppose we were all distressed.

"Wait wait! I know!" Neptune said. "I can transform and save our butts from this!"

"Then do it!" Dan urged on. "Get your sister involved too!"

" **NOT SO FAST!** " the voice shouted out before one boulder crashed directly on the ground, shattering into rubble quickly.

 **BOOM**

Suddenly a bright light quickly engulfed my sights, blinding me for a terribly short two seconds.

* * *

"What the hell was that? A flash rock?!" IF yelled out as she quickly recovered her sight.

Oddly enough, the whole room they were in stopped shaking all together, no more dangerously sized rocks fell from the heavens abusing the floor. It was all quiet, just like how it was at the beginning group went in.

"That was a scary experience..." Nepgear commented as she eyed her surroundings.

"Geez, you'd think there would be a final boss or something," Neptune commented as she suddenly saw Mikey passed out.

"M-Mikey?" Nepgear slowly asked. "What happened to him?!"

* * *

 _You know Michael, the world is always in balance. Always it was, always in balance. Gamindustri is no exception, evil will always reside as well as good._

 _You can't have one or the other, you just have to have both._

 _I suppose you can call me evil and malevolent. I suppose you can call the goddesses and the people of this place "good"._

 _The goddesses gets their power from the devotion of the people. They have to be the heroes, or else the power is no longer there. It's a shame for them, really._

 _My physical self may be long gone, but my powers still remain infinite and potent, just like those accursed CPUs who refer to themselves as "goddesses". I live off the evil that's always there, always watching, and always growing. That dungeon is the apex of all that._

 _You can't measure this with something as simple as shares._

 _I am the almighty begotten king of this world. A proclaimed divinity if you will._

 _And just like the goddesses, I can bring people from different dimensions, different worlds. It's as simple as teleporting; the process is just so brief._

 _You might be wondering, out of all the BILLIONS of people in the world, why did I choose you and your brother?_

 _For starters, I want to see how people would really act in a new radical world of Gamindustri. It's amusing really. The only form of entertainment which prevents me from going utterly mad._

 _And you definitely weren't the first ones, you guys were FAR from it. I've been stripping people of their normal lives for some years now, I think maybe somewhere around a thousand I suppose. I can't control where they end up, so they appear all over the place._

 _It's a strange power to have, but I use it nonetheless._

 _They all make their own friends, connections, some make relations with the other CPUs in the other dimensions. I can't force them to return home though — my powers can't touch people exposed to share energy. Just being in those grand cities of the continents is enough to make them untouchable from my powers._

 _However for you and your brother, I just recently discovered how to really interact with Gamindustri._

 _As you know, I really only have direct control in this dungeon, and I already know that your friends already made their way to escape._

 _I'm pretty sure they have gotten over your disappearance. Goes to show how insignificant you are really. But it's only to them._

 _To me, now I know the possibilities are endless. Your brother made me realize how much I could do in a host body. It made me crave it, realize how I can get in touch with the world tainted by the CPU's influence._

 _My power can be channeled through another, something I thought would never happen._

 _I didn't know about the bracelet, but your stupid friends already broke it haven't they?_

 _You know I just realized, they just took my only chance to really be physical in that world. That bracelet was key, but now that key is no longer there._

 _So much for being omnipotent. I mean, the dungeon is the only thing keeping me alive._

 _I'm telling the truth or I'm lying, who knows?_

 _Unless you were to be the next Leon, the next one in line. This isn't a situation where you really have a choice._

 _You have been hanging with Neptune and them for so long, you're practically stained with their goodness. I can't force you to returnspontaneo-_

* * *

Suddenly I saw myself waking up, the scenery being a nice change from a cracked and rocky floor to the pleasant night sky. That dream I had was so weird, like someone was talking to me.

"Hey guys! The lads awake!" the dogoo called out as I slowly got up from the wet grass. Neptune and Nepgear quickly took notice, eager to greet my awake self.

"Mikey!" Nepgear greeted with a quick hug. "You had us worried back there since you passed out. Do you feel okay?"

"I think so. Just had a weird dream."

"A weird dream? Was I in it?" Neptune curiously inquired.

Ahead of me, the others were standing in front of the dungeon entrance, as if they just escaped or something.

"H-Hey guys, what happened?" I asked as we approached them.

"This dungeon is definitely a bad influence on all of us. I've been hearing some voices as we were walking through the halls," Dan explained.

"It was wise to get out of there as soon as possible. No wonder this dungeon's a no-go zone," George commented. "We should've destroyed it a long time ago."

"Let's just head back and call it a day," Wesley suggested.

And as we traveled to the dungeon by day, we traveled back home by night. It was pretty quiet and uneventful, leaving you alone with only your thoughts.

 _Thoughts that shouldn't be there, that shouldn't be yours. That dark dream, with only a calm voice — the info it was telling me felt so clear._

"You know, I realized how accident prone Mikey really is," Neptune observed as she inspected the boy while walking.

"I think it's the fact that I get myself hurt a lot..." I said while giving off an awkward chuckle. It's true, I have to treat my body better.

"Yeah, I'm worried that they're affecting your head. What with your weird dream to mentioned earlier. What was that about?" IF curiously asked.

"Oh, nothing. It was just someone talking," I casually explained.

"Oh okay. Nonetheless, keep your head in check. You shouldn't be fainting from bright light."

"That's why I want to stay away from there. That place is weird and has a strange aura around it," Nepgear mentioned. "I just don't like it."

"What I wouldn't give for some much welcomed sleep," I said as we continued in walking. The thoughts of the voice still linger in my head.

* * *

Basilicom, the classic building with a classic couch. The four dogoos were going to stay here for the night I guess. I'm not sure how dogoos sleep, but I'm sure that the system Neptune set up would work.

Anyways, I went to bed pretty early compared to the Planeptune sisters. Even when I went to bed early, I couldn't find myself sleeping.

"Still awake Mikey?" Nepgear asked as she gazed at my tired face. I nodded slowly.

Quickly she joined me under the covers, an instant increase of coziness.

"What's on your mind?" she calmly asked me as she poked her head out of the covers. Her adorable look made my mind wander for a bit.

"Eh, nothing I guess. Just can't sleep you know?" I asked while looking straight up at the ceiling. "Though, I am starting a feel a bit, homesick," I quietly admitted.

I saw the expression on Nepgear's face change rapidly from adorable to just concerned. I didn't want to hurt her by saying I wanted to leave but seeing my brother able to go back so easily reminded me of my life there.

 _I can't lie, I've grown attached to here. A heart just wants to stay happy you know, but a brain just wants to push the limits._

"Oh, is that really how you feel?" the girl asked as she fidgeted with her fingers. "D-Do you want to go home?" she slowly asked.

"Well, I feel that really depends solely on you. _You know I am not leaving you_ ," I said without a doubt, causing her to blush in shock. I guess she hasn't handled love like this before, but she was happy to get the chance to.

"That said, y-you wanna come with me?" I asked nervously.

"Come with you?" Nepgear repeated.

"Yeah, when the opportunity arises and I do really have to go back, will you be over there with me?" I asked as I offered my hand.

Nepgear timidly took it without any delay.

"Y-Yes I will. Whatever comes up I'll still be by _your side_!" she proclaimed before giving me a torso-crushing hug. " _When the time comes, we'll go home._ "

Hearing her answer put me at rest.

* * *

 **Omake 20: Already Here**

"This is a nice home! So cozy..." Nepgear cooed as she got very comfortable in my bedroom.

"Wow, I didn't know you lived in style back home," Neptune remarked as she took a sip of water she found in my refrigerator. "Can we stay here?"

"Of course! Buttt if you want to sleep, my room only has one bed," Mikey warned.

"But your bed is pretty big," Nepgear observed as she soon got out and stretched. "In the meantime, you did say your parents were coming home right?"

"Yeah, usually around this time."

"Goodness, we have to introduce ourselves, Neptune! What are we going to say?" the candidate asked worriedly.

"Just say we're goddesses. That always makes us look good," Neptune casually replied. "Annddd if this crazy world doesn't have goddesses, we just say we are the first! Simple."

"You're really not going to say that... are you?" the boy nervously asked. Suddenly everyone heard footsteps downstairs.

"Looks like they're back already..." Mikey noted.

* * *

"Well Mikey, I never knew you were hiding two young ladies from me. You just waltzed down here like nothing ever happened," his mom observed.

"Well that's just because I wanted you to meet my best friends that just came back from their, uhh, trip," Mikey said. "This is Neptune, and this is her sister Nepgear."

"Nice to meet ya miss," Neptune greeted.

"Nice to meet you," Nepgear nervously greeted.

"Likewise. Anyway Mikey, it's pretty late. Shouldn't they return home or something?"

"Well they just came back from their trip, so I was wondering if they could stay here?" Mikey asked with a slight grin. "They'll stay in my room, I'm sure they can handle it," he joked.

"Your room huh? I don't know, you always mess around during the night," his mom replied reluctantly.

"Don't worry miss, we'll keep your boy in check, just like always," Neptune said as she winked at Mikey.

"Are you sure? You guys seem to see eye to eye with each other. Maybe you want in on his shenanigans," his mom observed. "What about you, Nepgear, what do you have to say?"

The girl was caught off guard, but did come up with something to say.

"I-I won't let them go crazy..." she said.

"Hmm, alright then. It's pretty late so I suggest you guys get to bed."

"Alright! Dibs on the side!" Neptune called out before running up the stairs.

"What no fair! It's my bed!" Mikey responded as he ran up after her. As Nepgear went up the stairs, she noticed a peculiar magazine sitting on a step.

Her eyes lit up in instant interest.

* * *

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

As the alarm clock was silenced, Nepgear was already up, gazing at the bed in front of her. The other two were still deep in their slumber, rolling their bodies around to try to get to the most comfortable position.

She looked out the window. All that was there was a neighborhood covered in the moody filter known as the rain. It was relaxing.

As she silently stood there in the room, she pondered about her actual situation. She still had responsibilities back home and so did Neptune, despite how little she wants to do. And to a certain extent, Mikey also had an important responsibility.

As she continued to look at the blissful expressions on their faces, she saw herself instantly forget about those worries. Her heart just wanted to live out life just a little bit more. Life in a new world, what beautiful possibilities are in store for the three of them?

As a simple candidate, she wanted to know.

She started to gently nudge the boy awake.

"Mikey?" she asked as the boy slowly opened his eyes.

"Y-Yes?" he said in a low volume.

"What are we going to do today?"

* * *

So that's why you were gone for so long," Uni confirmed. "What's that magazine you have?"

"Oh, this? It's a robotics catalog which came from Mikey's world. The stuff in here is absolutely mind-blowing!"

"And what about Mikey?" she curiously inquired.

"I got him back to Gamindustri of course. He isn't leaving me so easily."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: It's okay I'm here swear.**_

 _ **HAPPY a lot of things!**_

 _ **HOIHOIHOHIHOOHOHHOIHOIHOHIHOHI**_ _ **Still alive bois**_

 _ **OMAKE IS HERE**_

 ** _my boy i am still here cus i love to care :)_**


	35. Time To Try

**Chapter 35: Time To Try**

* * *

 _When I say that out loud, people like Noire just keep reminding me that there were plenty of other opportunities to "try" back then. What do they know? I believe it's time to try now! This time. Ask Neptune even._

* * *

It was a bright an early morning in the Basilicom. A bright an early morning, where the first thing I see walking into the living room is a bunch of dogoos huddled around with their phones out. Looks like they got a pretty busy digital life.

"Man, I haven't check this in ages. Should've gotten photos while we were out there fighting and what not," Wesley said.

"I thought we were trying to be mysterious and what not," Dan said.

As I decided to leave that potential conversation, I turned my attention to the kitchen.

Entering the kitchen with a slight limp on posture, I noticed Neptune and Nepgear, standing together as they stared at the stove. The stove had a pan filled with ramen, simmering and giving off that ever-so-sweet aroma. Noodles are my life.

"Good morning Mikey! Hope you're in the mood for sum good ol' noodles!" Neptune said before humming out a tune.

"Yeah, we will be done in a couple of minutes or so," Nepgear added. "Why don't you go chat with those dogoos? They wanted to talk to you about stuff."

"Oh, alright," I said before heading back to the living room. So far it seems like a perfectly unassuming normal morning. I wish I had a lot more of those in this world.

"Oy, Mikey! Get your happy ass over here!" George called out.

"Huh? What is it?" I asked as I briskly approached the four-dogoo group.

"You wanna go to Lowee today?" Dan asked with a mischievous smile.

"Lowee? Never heard of that place."

"Oh, it's like a winter wonderland all year round. Me and the boys figured we would escape the summer heat before it reaches us you know?"

"Yeah, and our friends there have been wanting to see us for a long time!" Wesley said before looking at his phone once again.

"Lowee, with just you guys?" I asked. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm still a little unsure about this group.

"Well... I guess you can invite those nice lady friends of yours, but I'm sure they have a lot to deal with here right now. I prefer if they don't come," Dan informed.

"Just stay in touch with 'em lad! It won't be that long!" Jerry suggested.

"But why do you want me to go?" It was awfully weird to go somewhere suddenly.

"You're going to be our testimony in convincing the locals there that we have gone straight. Nothing says trustworthy like an annoying boy," Dan said with a smirk.

"I suppose..." I said timidly. "At least let me tell them before we go out."

I immediately went and ran into the kitchen, only to see the two standing there just like before.

"Oh Mikey, what did those dogoos tell you?" Nepgear asked curiously.

"They just said that they wanted to go to Lowee to see their friends there. They also wanted only me to come."

"That's odd. Why?" The candidate raised her eyebrow.

"I guess they want me so that they can improve their image over there. They didn't want to bother you since I feel like you got a lot of work since our last excursion," I explained.

"Work?! Impossible! All the crazy stuff we done must've been work we already done," Neptune interjected.

"But we still have to do the boring logistics too. You know, the stuff keeping the country running?" her sister informed. "Still, it doesn't change the fact that this proposal just doesn't sit right with me."

"Yeah, it sounds a little fishy. You know I could just stay here to help you out with stuff," I suggested. It would definitely be a way safer alternative in my eyes.

"That'd would be great! But maybe you should go with them. Blanc would probably want to know that you're here too. Oh, almost forgot, here you go!" Nepgear took out a high-tech looking watch from her pocket. "Made this in the shop a while back. Here take it."

She threw the watch to me, where I put it on, snug on my forearm.

"What is it?"

"To stay in touch in case we get separated. I can call you on it with my N-Gear. I'd figure it's the perfect time to give it to you now."

"Aw sweet! That's nifty. Thanks!"

As I left the kitchen, I found myself being flanked by the four curious dogoos, whose expressions demanded an answer.

"Sooooo..."

"Fine, let's do it."

"Alright! Super snow dogoo adventure lesgo!"

* * *

"Behold how we are here already! Dogoo technology at its finest!" George proclaimed as we all stepped out of the chamber.

"Yeah yeah, we done this hundreds of times," Wesley waved off.

We were all in a brightly lit cave with sophisticated equipment all around us. Just from stepping out I could see dogoos with glasses and dogoos with weapons roaming around as usual. It sort of looked like an underground military base, where lines of wire lined the walls and vault doors was a common sight.

"It's the Lowee base alright," Dan observed. "Say, where the hell is their leader?"

As we walked through the cavernous hallways, the passing dogoos only gave me a click glance before going about on their business. I thought they would engage or fight me or something, but that just wasn't happening.

"If you're wondering why you aren't public enemy number one here, it's because we called in earlier. The leader is expecting to as of the moment," Dan explained.

"Oh great, what does he want?"

"He just wants to know your potential for our future. That's all, nothing big really."

Nothing big. I wish that was the case. But here I am, walking and going to meet another one of these dogoo leaders. I'd figure this place would have more creatures or monsters, but all I really saw most of so far is just DOGOOS!

When we got to the area that we were supposed to meet (according to Dan), nobody was there but a small pink dogoo.

"W-Wait, you're the leader?" Dan asked.

"Yes..." the pink dogoo muttered out begrudgingly. "Looks are deceiving you know and I don't say that just to compensate for my size. What the hell are you guys supposed to be? Taskmasters? Mana—"

"We are the slimetastic four," Jerry declared with an uncanny amount of dignity.

"Wait, that's you guys? Oh gosh, I almost forgot you guys were coming!" the pink dogoo said with a new smile. His attitude sure changed fast. "You will not BELIEVE what has happened  
here since you guys went home!"

"Oh boy..." Jerry pouted. "It's another one of his ramblings."

* * *

"Oy Junior! Are you done yet?" Neptune called out as she laid back in her chair.

"Not yet, there's still a lot, including the work you still have," Nepgear said as she let out a nervous breath.

She kept on furiously writing and confirming important forms concerning the boring stuff of their lands (still important though).

"Should've went with him..." she muttered out.

"Ha! That reminds me! We're going to Noire's place after this. You know, to chill out," Neptune spoke.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" As the candidate continued to do her mundane job, she happened to catch an odd glimpse at her wrist. Her wrist out of all places, why would she look at that? She paid no mind to it and just went back to her work.

Then again, there was that thing she gave Mikey before he left so abruptly. She half-expected the boy to try to convince her to come with him. She probably would've in a heartbeat, but that wasn't how it went.

"Ugh, what am I doing reflecting in the middle of all this work?" she asked herself. "Hey, sis?"

"Yeah?"

"Eh, never mind... I guess maybe later I suppose."

"Nepgear, you're not making the sensey-sense right now! What's got my cute sis down?"

"Nothing... I'm just getting tired, not to worry."

Nothing to worry indeed.

* * *

"HOLY SHIT!"

 **BOOOOM**

I have absolutely no idea how this situation EVER came to be, but all I know is that I and the dogoos are freaking screwed! You know when I was complaining about how there was like only one monster I've seen so far? Well, a new monster is in town, and they have just a bit more attitude and bitterness than the dogoos I know.

Who are they? Robots.

At least, that's what I thought I saw when the dogoos dragged me behind a table for cover. They had swords and some of them had some firearms.

We were attacked while we were in an open hallway where the robots were on one side and we were on the other. Between us, some ammo and weapon boxes the dogoos collected over the in all, it was going to be a war.

"You damn metal-eating hoes! What the hell did we do to you?" Wesley shouted out from his cover.

"Wait, we're fighting them robots?" George asked.

"Yyup. Why here or why now, I'll never know. The important thing is that we kick their asses!" Dan said before taking a couple of shots with his revolver.

As I peeked my eyes over the cover, I saw a wall of robots slowly marching towards or position. It felt like we were going through a full-scale invasion. All of the robots sort looked like those samurais, except more fruity.

 **ZOOM**

A stray bullet cracked past my ear, making me go back down in a millisecond.  
I gotten used to the overarching danger, but still I was trapped. If only they were her-

 **BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Oh wait, the watch!

Excitedly I pushed the button on my watch to answer the video call. Lo and behold it was all precious Geary. First expression I saw on her face was worry. Wonder why?

"What's happening over there?!" I never knew that watch had loudspeakers.

"Uh, bad things! Evil robots came and attacked us!" I shouted into my watch.

"I knew it! 5 hours in and you're already in extreme peril!" Nepgear said worriedly. It was weird talking to her while she's in pajamas. Especially amidst a gunfight.

"Yeah, honestly I don't know what to do," I shrugged as a blaring rocket flew over my head, leaving a mild explosion a few meters in front of me.

"I think I got a lot of the rust buckets!" Jerry yelled out as he reloaded his rocket launchers.

"Why does your ass need two?!" Wesley asked as he pulled out two shout guns.

"More bang for your buck duh mate!"

"Yep, I mean it's not so much peril Geary. These dogoos seem to know how to handle themselves pretty damn well. AH!"

As I told my watch, a ninja robot smashed through the cover, pushing back a good few inches.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I pulled out my trusty pistol. I don't think bullets would hurt a robot like him but I'll try!

"What what Mikey what happened?!"

 **BANG BANG BANG**

* * *

The weight of the stress and her worries continued to compound with each passing second she was on the call.

All she could see was her boy fighting an army of robots along with a bunch of unassuming dogoos. The situation does feel very similar for her.

"Holy shit! There's more. Dan call for some backup or something!" She heard Mikey shout out, making her realize that she was still in the call. It felt like watching an action movie on her little comms device.

"OW! Damn robot with your damn punches!" Mikey angrily lets out. "I'll show you what it means to crash!"

 **BANG CRASH**

And then the call just disconnected leaving Nepgear in a shocked daze. She went from sitting on the bed to just lay down on it. Staying over in Lastation helped her get her mind off of it, but not completely.

"Hey Nepgear, how are you doing tonight?" Uni asked as she peeked in through the door. "You sorta look under the weather."

"I'm just bogged down from finishing all that work. Luckily I could relax with you guys, so I'm happy," Nepgear said as she smiled at her. Her face began to quiver, her mind was trying to collect itself once again.

"I think I just need to sleep right now. It's been a wild day." The candidate yawned.

"Same here, my sis got a call from Blanc concerning a growing threat in Lowee. Apparently, dogoos aren't the only massive threat we have in Gamindustri."

"Aww geez, now I'm feeling more anxious about the whole situation. Mikey is literally over there by himself in the middle of all this nonsense! I can't believe I let him go with those dogoos," the girl pouted.

"Aww, don't worry. I know you know that he can definitely handle himself. He's got you!" Uni informed while putting her arm around Nepgear's shoulder. "Besides, we can have our fun when we meet Blanc."

"Well, I guess you're right. It would be fun to just fight with the girls again. We'll see tomorrow."

* * *

Back in the super secret dogoo base, a triumphant dogoo army stands over a pile of messed up circuits and dead robots. Who knew fighting robots barehanded would be so exhilarating? Actually, I never want to do that again.

"Well, that was tiring as hell. Anyone want dinner?" Dan asked.

* * *

 **Omake 21: Let's Play!**

 **8:00 AM**

The candidate observed the curiously recent game carelessly left running on Miley's computer.

"What's this?" Nepgear quietly asked, taking a seat at the desk to get a closer look. The title screen is the first thing to greet her eyes, she felt that this game certainly had an impressive presentation. Never had she seen a game like this.

"Hmm, I wonder what this is about?" she thought as her hand slowly drifted onto the mouse. As she looked at her surroundings, she moved her mouse so it hovered over the NEW GAME button.

"So.. like the new game?" a voice from behind spoke nonchalantly.

"Eek!" she shrieked before turning her head to see who it is. "Oh, it's just you," she said with a sigh of relief. "I was just curious because it looked so interesting. Were you planning to play it?"

"Yeah, I was. It took a long time to set up but I know it's going to be worth it!" he said excitedly as he saw the title screen. "Best of all, they still kept the multiplayer. I was hoping to play this with Neppy but apparently 'she has to do her work.'" Mikey said while raising his mocking air quotes.

"She needed to catch up on her stuff," the girl commented, turning back to have the game in her view again. "Free time for her is becoming scarce these days."

"Well, I guess that means it's next time with her then. In the meantime, wanna play it with me?"

"Hmm, okay! Pull up a chair!"

* * *

 **9:00 AM**

"So, like the game so far?" the boy asked as he continued to focus his attention on the game at hand. Looking to his right, he already could see that the new game had captivated Nepgear. She seemed to be in an engrossed trance for a second before realizing that she was asked something.

"Huh what? O-Oh, sorry I was in the zone. What did you ask Mikey?"

"Wanna take a break? It's been an hour since we started and we haven't eaten breakfast yet," Mikey suggested as he glanced at the clock.

Nepgear glanced at the clock too, shaking her head in disbelief at the amount of time that has passed.

"Oh my, it's been an hour already? I thought I was playing for only 5 minutes," the candidate got out of her chair shortly, "I guess I can't help myself."

"We all have been through that phase. Food usually breaks the spell so I'm going to the kitchen. You can join me if you want." Mikey then briskly exited the room, leaving Nepgear alone with the extremely entertaining but nefarious video game. As she stood on her bare feet, her mind felt a powerful urge to return to the desk to continue playing.

It was a feeling that put her off from getting into gaming from the first place, and now she is experiencing it first hand. The thought behind the idea to keep playing is that she could always do something to advance her progress in the game. There was always something to do and in her mind, she felt like she needed to do it.

Soon enough, she found herself sat in the chair once again, coming face-to-face with a tempting pause screen.

She knew that getting through the game by herself would just bring hardship and frustration to her experience; enemies and bosses are just too much for one player to handle.

Wanting to get back to playing asap, Nepgear rushed down into the kitchen only to find Mikey trying to scarf down a family-sized bag of chips. The boy was hungry for something...

"The bag size is meant for my stomach" was what he said all the time to justify eating an ungodly amount of junk food. But Nepgear didn't care about that, she just wanted to keep on playing.

"That's your breakfast?!" shouted a voice in disbelief. As both people soon found out it was just Neptune, just woken up, Nepgear grew anxious.

"Don't judge me Neppy!" Mikey retorted as he grabbed the bag of chips as he got up.

"Better take your breakfast with you then because we are going to the convenience store. We have to stock up on drinks you know," Neptune informed.

"Annnd what does that have to do with me?"

"I have no idea, but the plot demands that you go with me, so you'll go with me!"

"W-W-Wait! Nepgear, do you wanna go?" Mikey asked as he felt the inevitable approaching.

"Uhh it's ok. I'm planning to have Uni come over today. You two can go."

"Alright! Up and away!" Neptune cheerfully shouted as she surprisingly dragged Mikey away, taking him out of the scene. He didn't even bother putting up a fight this time.

* * *

 **2:00 PM**

"Alright Nepgear, I think I gotta leave. It's been fun so see ya!" Uni waved out before running out the exit, the sounds of the door closing leaving the candidate in the exact same situation hours before. Aside from the fact that she has made much more progress in playing with Uni, she still craved to keep on going. However, she was at that point where the enemies were just impossible to defeat without a second player.

"If she's gone then when are they coming back?" she asked herself as she fidgeted around with her fingers.

"We been already back," said Mikey as he seemingly appeared around the corner. "You probably didn't notice us coming in." Mikey looking up to see the girl still sitting at his computer. Already been six hours with no intent to quit.

"Ima go see what's on TV!" Neptune yelled out from the other room.

"Anyways, you still wanna play? I could use a good break after what your sister put me through."

"Would you?" Nepgear asked with a hopeful smile. Mikey sat down next to her; her question was answered.

"I'll be playing for a few more hours alright?" the boy mentioned, piping up the girl's attention.

* * *

 **7:00 PM**

"Ah geez looks like I gotta make dinner," Mikey said before attempting to leave his seat. Her arms were holding him back. "Huh?"

"We're not done yet, Mikey." Nepgear looked a bit too serious to be Nepgear. "There's still a long way to go before we finish the whole game! You don't wanna quit now right?"

"B-B-But dinner! Nepgear I think we need a break! You've played more than half the day away!" he pointed out.

"Oh, so you wanna break up with me now Mikey? I thought I was your one and only..." she said, feigning sadness. Usually, this would work with a boy like him, but today...

"Nepgear, you know damn well that's not what I said or meant. You're just gaming addicted like Neptune. You need to take a break!" he said in an increasingly commanding tone.

"But Mikey, we can fight the boss right now! Come on! Come on! Don't be like this with me now..."

"You know what?" Mikey asked as he got up.

"What?"

 **CLICK**

With a simple push of a button, the whole computer was shut down. All that unsaved progress of looting and fighting has gone straight out the window and into the deep deep ocean. It was unlike of him to let go of a precious unsaved session, but he knew he had to cut the obsession Nepgear was starting to develop with the game.

"Mikey, **WHAT DID YOU JUS-** "

Hopefully, she wasn't too attached.

"It's for your own good," he solemnly remarked before getting up.

All he could see was a pure face of shock. Speechless was a good word to describe it. It was a good long five seconds before Mikey had the guts to say anything after what he just did to her.

"Soo... are you still hungry?" the boy asked in an attempt to break the tension. The candidate slowly nodded, giving him a death stare which stabbed a bit of terror inside him.

"Hmph!" she angrily puffed out. "You're a meanie!"

"You look cute when you're angry," Mikey said while chuckling quietly.

"Buttering me up won't do you any good!"

He could feel his stomach rumble, causing him to leave the room promptly.

"Hey! Wait for me meanie!"

Nepgear followed suit, slamming the door behind her as she ran out.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: rawr I'm back from the grave to bring anothachapter to my loyal fans #love u ppl!**_

 _ **I wrote lots of omake so u kno what that means. Wait omake might come now then ! Yaya!**_

 _ **What will happen next with spoky robo fagotas? I don't know but I'll somehow make it feasible? Have a beautiful time!**_

 _ **UPDATE: GOTOMAKE**_

 _ **random new thing (not a chapter coming soon) - i wanna try something new with this story :))**_


End file.
